Through the development of creative solutions to challenging issues, artificial intelligence (AI) has been revolutionizing numerous sectors. A dental practice is not an exception. The delivery of dental care is being revolutionized by AI-powered technologies, and the range of these technologies’ uses is constantly growing. AI systems can develop individualized treatment plans, identify early indications of dental disorders, and help dentists complete complex treatments by evaluating vast volumes of dental data. In addition to lowering the risk of problems and improving patient outcomes, this technology is improving the standard of dental care. Let’s look at how AI is enhancing dental health in this setting.
AI in dentistry
AI in dentistry has recently begun to take off, as it has in other sectors. AI applications in dentistry can be categorized as diagnosis, decision-making, treatment planning, and treatment result prediction. The most well-liked application of AI in dentistry is diagnosis. By producing diagnoses that are more precise and effective, AI can lighten the labour of dentists. On the one hand, dentists are using computers to make judgments more and more (36, 37). On the other side, dental computer programs are improving in intelligence, accuracy, and dependability
All areas of dentistry are now engaged in AI research. The study design, data distribution (i.e., training, test, and validation sets), and model performance (i.e., accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, F1, AUC Area Under [the receiver operating characteristic (ROC)] Curve], recall) of the numerous journal articles on dental AI remain challenging to compare. Most articles only partially covered the material above. In order to bring similar levels of openness and value to the application of AI in medicine, the MI-CLAIM (Minimum Information about Clinical Artificial Intelligence Modelling) checklist has been promoted.
AI in operative dentistry
According to a certain set of criteria, dentists typically detect caries using visual, tactile, or radiographic inspection. Deep fissures, close interproximal contacts, and subsequent lesions make it difficult to identify early-stage lesions. In the end, many lesions are only discovered in the later stages of dental caries, necessitating more involved treatments like dental crowns, root canals, or implants. Although dental radiography (whether in panoramic, periapical, or bitewing views) and the explorer (also known as the dental probe) have been used extensively and are regarded as very reliable diagnostic methods for identifying dental caries, a large portion of screening and the final diagnosis frequently depend on the dentist’s experience.
Research in operative dentistry has focused on identifying dental caries, apical lesions, vertical root fractures, pulp space volumetric measurement, and examination of tooth wear. Each grayscale pixel in a two-dimensional (2D) radiograph has an intensity, or brightness, that corresponds to the density of the item. An AI program may learn the pattern and provide predictions to segment the tooth, identify cavities, etc. by learning from the aforementioned features. To identify dental caries on periapical radiographs, Lee et al. created a CNN algorithm. A CNN approach was suggested by Kunisch et al. to identify caries on intraoral pictures. The results of a comparison between the cost-effectiveness of AI for proximal caries detection and dentists’ diagnosis by Schwen Dicke et al.
How Artificial Intelligence is improving dental health
Here is a comprehensive piece on how AI is enhancing dental health:
In many aspects, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing dentistry and enhancing dental health results. AI systems can develop individualized treatment plans, identify early indications of dental disorders, and help dentists’ complete complex treatments by analyzing vast volumes of dental data. Let’s examine some ways AI enhances dental health in more detail.
Improved diagnostic accuracy: Dental X-rays and other diagnostic images can be analyzed by AI algorithms more quickly and accurately than by humans. This can aid dentists in identifying issues at the earliest stages, resulting in more efficient treatment and better patient outcomes. For instance, AI can identify the early stages of gum disease and cavities.
Individualized treatment programs: Based on each patient’s particular dental health history, genetics, and other characteristics, AI-powered software can provide individualized treatment programs for them. Dentists can offer more effective treatments that are suited to each patient’s unique needs by taking into account the patient’s unique traits. Better treatment outcomes and a lower risk of problems can result from this.
Accurate diagnosis: large volumes of dental data can be analysed by AI systems to find trends and anticipate future issues before they arise. This makes it possible to take preventative steps to avoid oral issues before they arise. Through the analysis of diagnostic images and the provision of real-time feedback, AI can also assist dentists in making more efficient and accurate diagnoses of issues.
Dental procedures with robotic assistance: Robotics technology is helping dentists complete challenging procedures like dental implants and root canal therapies. Robotics can speed up recuperation times, increase precision and accuracy, and lower the likelihood of problems. Dentists can deliver more effective treatments that are less intrusive and take less time to recuperate by employing robotics.
Patient observation: Real-time dental health monitoring is possible with AI-powered solutions, giving dentists the most recent knowledge about the situations of their patients. This enables dentists to identify issues early and treat them quickly. By giving patients real-time feedback and motivating them to make good adjustments to their oral hygiene routines, patient monitoring can also assist patients in developing healthy dental habits.
Tele-dentistry: Remote dental problem detection and treatment are now possible because of AI-powered tele dentistry systems. Dentists can advise patients virtually, lowering the need for in-person consultations and enhancing patient access to care. Patients in remote or underserved locations who do not have easy access to dental treatment may benefit especially from tele dentistry.
Evolution of dental products: New dental products and technology that enhance dental health outcomes can be created using AI. AI, for instance, can be utilized to develop novel dental materials that are more efficient and durable than existing ones. Additionally, AI can be utilized to create new dental tools and technologies that will increase the precision and efficiency of dental procedures.
By giving dentists rapid access to correct information, enabling personalized treatment plans, and enhancing the precision and efficacy of dental operations, AI is boosting oral health outcomes. Future advancements in AI technology are anticipated to have a bigger impact on dentistry.
CONCLUSION:
In the dentistry industry, new technologies are developed and implemented quickly. With characteristics like high accuracy and efficiency if unbiased training data is used and an algorithm is correctly trained, AI is one of the most promising ones. Dental professionals can use AI as an additional tool to lighten their burden and increase precision and accuracy in illness prognosis, diagnosis, decision-making, and treatment planning.
