We hear a lot about how the conventional medical service model is broken. Most people have had the experience of seeing a GP (often getting an appointment is an ordeal in its own right) who says, "I think something's wrong, but I'm not an expert, so I’ll refer you to someone else."
The referral could mean a long wait while in pain, travel, and extra costs, and is even more difficult outside of urban areas.
Founded in 2022 by Dr Sonia Szamocki, 32Co aims to bridge the gap between generalist dental clinicians and orthodontic specialists through a collaborative digital platform. It enables dentists to deliver specialist-grade orthodontic care locally, reducing the need for referrals, long-distance travel, or treatment delays.
Dr Szamocki originally started out working in A&E then moved into management consultancy and later into medtech, building patient-facing apps.
She shared:
“Across all those experiences, I kept seeing the same core problem in healthcare: access to specialist care is limited, expensive, and often inconvenient.
I wanted to build technology that enables general clinicians — doctors and dentists — to deliver the kind of specialist care you'd usually only get in a hospital.”
Why focus on dental care?
Dental care is often seen as optional and expensive, with alot of things not covered by health insurance unless you are in pain.
But according to Dr Szamocki, orthodontics has long-term health benefits, preventing cavities and protecting the bite.
“In the UK, we have around 1,000 orthodontists for 60 million people. Meanwhile, 60 per cent of people have misaligned teeth.
So there’s a huge gap we can help bridge by enabling general dentists to deliver this care with specialist support.”
Training clinicians to deliver specialist-level care
For dentists, 32Co offers structured, interactive training, including a four-week Starter Course and a more advanced Stretch Course, focused on building expertise in clear aligner therapy.
With DUO, dentists work directly alongside leading UK orthodontists throughout the treatment process, fostering knowledge exchange and hands-on support.
SOLO offers clinicians greater autonomy, allowing them to independently manage cases, while accessing technical backing from orthodontist-trained support staff.
Dentists learn fully customisable aligner options, selecting materials, trim lines, and attachment designs to meet each patient’s needs.
Patients receiving treatment through 32Co benefit from expert-designed clear aligners that combine the insights of top orthodontists with the care of local dentists.
This ensures that each treatment plan is both clinically sound and tailored to the individual.
As part of the collaborative model, the dentist handles the patient locally, including records, check-ups, and treatment delivery, while the specialist works remotely to advise on the case.
Dr Szamocki shared:
“It scales their expertise and allows more patients to benefit, without removing the need for specialists. Some cases still need in-person care, and we’re clear about that. Dentists appreciate that we’re protecting them from taking on something outside their scope."
Training that starts with worst-case scenarios
Lots of industries have their challenges when it comes to upskilling. According to Dr Szamocki, healthcare professionals are trained to be risk-averse and put patients first.
“It's not about economics—it's about safety. You could offer a doctor a million pounds to inject a new drug, and they’ll still say no unless they’re confident it’s safe. Innovation has to meet clinicians where they are.”
Therefore, the only way to encourage doctors to try new things is to build confidence by training clinicians efficiently and giving them direct access to specialists who can support them.
32Co’s platform helps them gain expert knowledge quickly, so they don’t use patients as test cases but are confident in delivering high-quality care.
Dr Szamocki asserts that doctors are lifelong learners,”but the emotional weight of their job means they think in terms of worst-case scenarios.”
“So we train backwards. We start with what happens if something goes wrong. Then we build out from there. It’s about giving them the tools to handle complexity, not just textbook knowledge.”
The training has garnered strong appeal with dentists signing up in large numbers, often through word of mouth. 32co doesn’t charge for training because it believes in removing barriers to upskilling.
A lot of people say, “I hate the dentist.”
That’s tough on clinicians. As Dr Szamocki notes, if every patient arrives with dread, it’s not a great working environment!
“Part of what I want to do is make the experience of being a clinician more empowering, so they feel excited about helping people, not worn down.”
32Co is currently expanding the platform to support more of the admin side by helping dentists manage the patient journey, not just the treatment.
It's also using AI to automate routine tasks like clinical letters and launching a coaching tool trained on thousands of specialist cases. It acts as a 24/7 companion to support dentists with real-time guidance.
From teeth to sleep
One of the strengths of 32Co’s collaborative model is that it can be expanded to other specialties in health care. 32Co plans to tackle sleep and sleep apnea next, a specialty that Dr Szamocki believes is poorly managed by the medical community, “even though we have effective solutions. “
“Treatment is often siloed and not accessible through traditional clinical routes. We’re building a pathway to fix that.”
Lead image: Dr Sonia Szamocki, founder of 32Co. Photo: uncredited.
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