The Future is Here: Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry

Introducing AI in Dentistry

The last decennary has witnessed the real “fourth industrial revolution” in the form of artificial intelligence (AI). This term, coined in the 1950s by John McCarthy, is no longer limited to technical and manufacturing processes. Its contributions to the field of medicine are unimaginable, and dentistry is no exception.

As a dental practitioner, it is normal to be skeptical and amused about the distant promises of a robot AI dentist in the future. That is where dental AI software like Diagnocat proves its worth. AI essentially uses computer technology to mimic human-like critical thinking, decision-making, and intelligent behavior. Diagnocat proposes that AI dentistry does not intend to mask your clinical thinking into an incognito mode or replace you with an android implant surgeon; we simply aim to be an invaluable “second opinion” to your clinical work and a virtual assistant that multitasks.

A brief on the working model of Diagnocat AI may help you understand its dental applications better. AI dentistry with Diagnocat analyzes digital images like X-rays and detects dental conditions such as dental caries, bone loss etc. The analysis then follows certain algorithms (also called machine learning and deep learning) to study patterns in the data, identifying correlations between symptoms and anomalies. This ensures the most interesting feature of Diagnocat’s AI software—the prediction of probable outcomes. Predictive analysis is used to understand patient histories and current clinical findings to predict outcomes, identify trends, and develop treatment strategies. (1).

Did you know that you have been using dental AI in your practice, knowingly or unknowingly, for a while now? From accurate dental scans to 3D printing veneers, they are all wonders of AI in dentistry.

Catching Cavities with Dental AI

Cavities and toothaches are the most common causes of dental visits worldwide. In a research involving 3000 dental X-rays of the posterior teeth, a powerful artificial intelligence algorithm was able to identify tooth decay with an accuracy of 75.5% to 93.3% and a sensitivity of 74.5% to 97.1%. It was compared with a dentist’s sensitivity in detecting decay using visual examination, clinical tests, and X-rays, which varied between 19% and 94% (2).

Diagnocat’s features for the accurate diagnosis of cavities:

• Detection of incipient lesions

Dentists can now identify cavities even before they become visible or cause your patients any discomfort. The AI is adept at identifying patterns that indicate variations in tooth density, interproximal caries, irregularities in shape, or the presence of black patches. This allows prompt preventive intervention and treatment (3).

• Depth and surfaces of a caries lesion

The AI dental software creates a color-coded dental chart displaying the dental caries in a stage-by-stage manner. This helps educate the patient and make an informed decision about restorative or endodontic procedures (3).

Time for a Healthy Hello: Dental AI in Restorative and Periodontics

Diagnocat AI can provide real-time chairside assistance during restorative and periodontal procedures, offering guidance and feedback based on image analysis and data interpretation.

• Interpreting an OPG

The in-built color-coded dental chart with the OPG, highlights areas of defective restorations, periodontal complications, and perio-endo and endo-perio lesions with clarity.

• Interpreting the CBCT scans

Diagnocat provides a series of automatically-generated cross sections in an online 3D viewer that is ideal for analysing the following:

• Types of periodontal bone lesions: horizontal, vertical, mixed
• Furcation lesion
• Periapical pathologies
• Abfraction
• Attrition
• Peri-implantitis
• Dental calculus
• Pathological migration of teeth
• Hypercementosis
• History of Apicoectomy
• Direct/ indirect pulp capping

These features become vital in planning and guiding minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as gum grafting or periodontal pocket reduction, and optimizing treatment success and patient comfort during restorations (4),

AI in Endodontics: Performing Smarter Root Canals

Tackling a MesioBuccal-2 canal or locating the point of bifurcation of an upper premolar is now feasible with dental AI.

Diagnocat AI can successfully assist you in every step of endodontics, such as:

• 3D visualisation of the intricate anatomy of a root canal.
• Real-time virtual images used to demonstrate to the patient pulpal involvement in a deep cavity.
• Detection and precise location of pulp stones
• Point of canal obliteration
• Determining the apex and the ideal working length
• Understanding periapical changes and pathologies
• Detecting minor defects, voids, and irregularities in old endodontic fillings
• Locating tooth fractures

Dental AI in endodontics holds great potential for improving diagnosis accuracy, treatment precision, and overall patient outcomes (5).

Streamlining Orthodontic Treatment Planning with Dental AI

Orthodontic treatment planning, execution, and monitoring have seen a paradigm shift with dental AI (6). Diagnocat’s contribution to AI-driven orthodontics is based on the following:

• Diagnocat recommends 3D segmentation, which involves creating a detailed 3D model of the patient’s face, teeth, and jaws. The software can focus and sharpen the areas of interest, making the visuals more educative and lucid for the patient.

• Diagnocat’s technology combines the two types of dental scans (intraoral X-rays and CBCT 3D images of the teeth) with the anatomy of the patient’s cranial base. This will allow a precise prediction of the course and outcome of the orthodontic treatment.

• Orthognathic surgeries are safer with our 3D segmentation tool that precisely identifies major blood vessels and nerves in the operating field.

Saving Lives with AI: Oral Cancer Detection

The stage of detection is the pivotal factor in any cancer treatment. Early oral cancer detection is essential for preserving lives. Diagnocat AI technology has access to a large database to find out trends in oral cancer detection (7).

The AI software detects large radiolucencies in the jaws and prepares a detailed report about their characteristics, like margins, borders, opacity, correlation with a chronically infected tooth, and the degree of spread. AI algorithms then search the database, comparing these reports to known patterns and indicators of oral cancer.

This kind of quick research is invaluable to the dentist in making accurate and reliable diagnoses, reducing the chances of missed interpretations. The results can be correlated with biopsies to find out the exact stage of oral cancer and the subsequent treatment plan.

Diagnocat: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming an AI Dentist

Trust plays a vital role in the dentist-patient relationship. With faster and more accurate diagnoses, you earn the everlasting trust of your patients. A vast majority of dentists work with the fear of being sued for missed or wrong diagnoses. It often drives you to refer patients to specialised clinics. With Diagnocat AI, work faster, smarter, and more accurately. The dentist who embraces technology can skyrocket towards addressing bigger goals like business growth through trusted patient communications and meeting their expectations.

Diagnocat AI’s predictive analytics allow the analysis of patient records in seconds and link them to larger datasets to identify additional health issues. A dentist who can take care of his patient’s overall health and look beyond dental concerns soon earns the trust of an entire patient community.

Our collaborative tool boosts your bandwidth to collaborate with patients, peers, and specialists, manage staff, schedule appointments, evaluate business insights, and set financial goals. While you focus on making others smile, let us virtually assist you in materialising it.