Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry

On the clinical side, AI is being used to obtain critical insights on clinical decision making via software that will develop further and integrate AI algorithms to offer practitioners a way of finding the best treatment modalities for their patients, according to a 2020 piece by The Medical Futurist.¹ The authors of a 2019 study published in Public Health Genomics write that with the exponential rise in health data and the maturing of healthcare AI, dental medicine is entering a new stage of its digitization.² Such smart algorithms can be integrated within the healthcare system to analyze health data, research findings, and treatment techniques to offer diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations for individual patients.

With regard to dental laboratories, AI algorithms may also offer unique and interesting information regarding the materials and processes we use to restore the oral environment. Capturing important information at different intervals and then sequencing the outcomes and consequences to run through an evolving AI algorithm can provide the dental community with greater information and restorative protocols. Forward-thinking dental laboratory owners and managers should keep a close eye on these developments and engage with AI to further offer their clientele the latest and greatest restorative solutions backed by evidence-based and data-driven results. Artificial intelligence is technology that will become larger and more powerful as aggregates of data are accumulated, and engaging early on will offer the greatest benefits, as it continues to evolve and become a greater staple in all we do in the laboratory and in our lives.

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