Two Front, a Los Angeles startup looking to redefine how orthodontists run their practices, raised $3.5 million in seed funding from Craft Ventures, founder Ingrid Murra tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: Demand for the perfect smile is high, but orthodontists are coming out of residency with major debt burdens that make it challenging to start new practices.

How it works: Two Front makes it easy for dentists to add orthodontics-as-a-service to their practice, while helping orthodontists build their brand and practice without exuberant startup costs.

Context: After a decade-plus of schooling, the average orthodontist is left with $597,000 in debt, with student loan levels surpassing $1 million in some cases, per an April report by Student Loan Planner.

Yes, and: In concert with the specialty's supply and cost problems, an explosion of DTC mail-order teeth straightening companies have grown in popularity, and dentist referrals to licensed orthodontists have grown less frequent.

Between the lines: “The past seven years folks have tried to get rid of the orthodontist," Murra says. "We’re putting orthodontists back into the model.”

What’s next: The funding will help Two Front build out its team, operating system and platform, and obtain its goal of signing on 100 dental office partners in Los Angeles by the end of the year, Murra says.

The bottom line: "This is the private practice of the future without the overhead."