The Future Perspectives of Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry

Like all fields of science, dentistry has been developing with advanced technology. Artificial Intelligence(AI) is one of the most recent and important developments in dentistry and has been impacting the entire practice of dentistry in several positive ways. It has made practising easy and helps to perform surgeries and operations quicker. These developments have created a more comfortable environment for patients and have made practising dentistry smoother for dentists.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, works on the principle of writing down a set of instructions that a computer program can follow to perform human-like functions and solve problems as per the set protocols. Among the several places where AI is used in dentistry are Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) analyse data patterns and then form a set of instructions to teach the machine to understand and work according to those patterns. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) help in image diagnosis. Both of these techniques contribute towards making dental healthcare better with more organised procedures in place.

Artificial Intelligence also helps in the prevention, diagnosis as well as treatment of several diseases. AI helps to detect the decaying of oral health. It also helps to diagnose periodontal disease. AI techniques help in detecting dental caries because they help to create a logical and fast diagnostic process that works smoothly along with clinical assessment. Further, Artificial Intelligence helps to improve the quality of images, classifications, as well as segmentation, used in dental practice. Technologies like CNN use location and morphology to help diagnose dental decay. These CNN techniques also help to diagnose periodontal diseases on radiographs. They also help to collect patterns from the images of Periodontally Compromised Teeth (PCT). More importantly, AI helps to detect oral cancer. Oral cancer can be treated better if it is detected in an early stage, and AI helps detect oral cancer lesions early on. This helps to provide the right care to patients from the beginning of the journey. Mobile applications using AI also help in early image capture and remote diagnosis.

Further, Natural Language Processing (NLP) is being actively used in dental practice these days. Using this technology, voice-activated systems are used in dental imaging software. This helps to capture and compare their images without using hands. This saves the time of both the clinicians as well as the patients.

Artificial Intelligence is also used outside dental operations, to make the other tasks easy. AI is being used to market dental devices and is also a great source to communicate with patients and keep a track of appointments, operations, surgeries, equipment stock etc. This makes running a dental healthcare environment more systematic and accurate.

Given the several advantages of Artificial Intelligence in dental healthcare, it is imperative that with the progress of time, the field of dentistry also utilises AI to function with more efficiency and speed. Using AI techniques would not only help the dentists but would also make the patients comfortable and put them at ease.