Soon, many patients’ first experience with AI in medicine may be in the dental chair

Next frontier

Healthcare is in the midst of a digital revolution. Patients have become familiar with electronic recordkeeping and with digital CT and MRI scans; some have come face-to-face with the use of computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose pulmonary and other cancers.

Key Takeaways
  • Dentistry is well positioned to take advantage of AI.
  • AI has clinical and business applications relevant to dentistry.
  • AI is a tool for dentists to use in improving patient care, not a dentist itself.

 

But AI is poised to make a new, more immediate impression on our lives. It's in everyday dentistry that most people will probably have their first experience with the surprising ability of computers to see and interpret routine X-rays with accuracy equal to — and often better than — human readers.

The importance of artificial intelligence in dentistry

Dentistry is well-positioned to make use of AI's abilities. Everyone who goes to a dentist has X-rays taken from time to time, so there are likely far more dental X-rays in existence than any other kind. These radiographic images, annotated by human experts, are being used to teach AI systems what healthy and unhealthy teeth look like and how to recognize the differences. [‍...]

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