Innovation alone isn’t the answer. It’s how you use it. This realization is helping drive the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in dentistry.
The influence of AI on patient care and dental practice operations is expanding.
AI can generate:
- Greater diagnostic accuracy and treatment confidence
- Operational workflows that are more efficient
- Faster data access
Advantages of Using AI in Dentistry
Overjet CEO, Wardah Inam, PhD, articulated some of the advantages of using AI in dentistry in an article for Becker’s Dental+DSO Review, which was also published on the Overjet blog.
On a practice level
”…how do you communicate with the patient better in terms of their diseases and such that they’re more informed about their diseases as well.”
On a diagnostic level
”…being able to provide a more comprehensive diagnosis where things that might have been missed previously or might not be on their radar, those aspects can be brought to them at the right time, while the patient is in the chair and their data is analyzed.”
On a DSO/managerial level
“Right now for the first time ever, you can actually monitor and track your clinical performance. So you’re looking at how your practices are doing clinically rather than just financially. That helps to determine how you can improve that performance and where the risks and opportunities are.” With “what is possible” in mind, let’s explore some leading applications of AI in dentistry that you can use now.
Three practical applications of AI in dentistry
1-Utilize dental data analytics
This covers a scope of managerial applications for your DSO and/or solo practice. AI provides analytic capabilities that help drive practice and organizational operations.
- Manage and monitor your services.
- Improve the synergy between the clinical systems of patient care and the business systems that support it.
- Prioritize and refine overall patient engagement around available data (for example: marketing, scheduling, communication, follow-up, etc).
2-Leverage the relationship between oral health and overall health
Smart technology (using AI) can help narrow and bridge the gap between your patient’s oral health and their overall/general health. AI equipped devices can acquire and store patient oral health data.
- Gain insights into a patient’s dental health habits and related issues.
- Provide a data-based evaluation for a more informed diagnosis and treatment plan.
- Use accessible data to educate patients about the systemic connection between their oral and general (physical) health.
- Get early detection of disease and/or dental decay (for example: oral cancer, gum disease, dental caries, etc).
- Follow the data acquired by AI to alert patients to certain susceptibilities in their dental/overall health.
3-Deploy communication, diagnostic, and treatment capabilities
AI provides innovative opportunities for interaction with your care data, acquire diagnostic data, and provide treatment.
- AI software supports speech recognition technology. Interactive capabilities are fast and allow for enhanced voice commands.
- AI integrates with imaging technology to gather deeper levels of diagnostic data. Pinpoint areas of focus on patient radiographs for assistance in diagnosing disease, treatment planning, and procedural guidance.
- AI transforms surgical processes. Robotic capabilities can be applied during oral surgery under the guidance and expertise of a skilled, trained oral surgeon.
These AI capabilities have multiple layers of application. Ongoing innovation is expected to enhance how you use AI software to support your patient care and practice or DSO operations.
The following resources can help you gain as much perspective as possible about AI and its application to dentistry:
6 Ways to Utilize the Impact of AI in Dentistry
Technology leadership and innovation is driving the application of AI within dentistry
Overjet is a proven leader in dental artificial intelligence, helping both payers and providers improve patient care.
Learn more about Overjet or request a demo.
