Software offerings of root fast-grower Sonendo eases the pandemic pain

For Sonendo Inc., a Laguna Hills dental device maker that was the fastestgrowing midsized private company in OC for two years in a row pre-pandemic—it reported two-year revenue growth of 814% to $38.4 million for the year ended June

30, 2019—software boosted its business in 2020.

The company, best known for its GentleWave root canal system, is the parent of San Diego-based TDO Software, the leading endodontics practice management software, according to Chief Executive Bjarne Bergheim.

The company’s software offering helped offset lost revenue from its device business in 2020, said Bergheim, whose firm raised $85 million in funding at the start of 2020.

In the end, revenue was flat last year. However, Sonendo believes it is already returning to growth mode at a much faster rate than other dental equipment providers due to the technological and safety advantages of GentleWave, which uses a combination of a liquid solution and acoustic energies to clean a tooth’s root canal system, Bergheim said.

GentleWave is a closed-loop system that prevents particles from becoming aerosolized and spreading disease, and it comes with single-use disposable instruments so patients don’t share components with others, he said. Furthermore, Sonendo’s system has a 97% success rate of removing all infected tissue, while most root canal procedures have a success rate between 70% and 80%, according to Bergheim. “We’re changing root canal therapy in a big way,” Bergheim said, noting the company expects to release a new procedure instrument this year.

Today, Sonendo has placed about 700 systems in dental offices and surpassed over half a million root canal procedures performed on its system.