We are entering an age where health care providers, patients, and inevitably insurers will have access to unprecedented amounts of patient-level information from genetic sources that have a direct bearing on a patient’s risk, prognosis, and response to potential treatment for a number of diseases. This era of new genetics offers an implicit promise that with such detailed data will come improvements in patient outcomes. As the realization of the complexity of genomic data grows, the time at which the new genetics actually provides us with affordable and actionable information that improves patient outcomes is continually being pushed back. The degree to which clinical dental practice will be transformed by genomic science will depend ultimately on yet unanswered questions involving not just how fast these technology changes occur but also on the degree that we understand and manage associated issues, including patient ethics, dental care financing, dentist training, and effective use of the electronic health record.