Artificial intelligence has grown significantly in dentistry in recent years, with several new kinds of AI-powered technology entering the field.
With the emergence of new technologies such as ChatGPT, healthcare providers are exploring ways to implement these platforms into practice, including clinical care, research and education.
Three dentists recently connected with Becker's to answer the question, "What role do you see AI technology like ChatGPT playing at dental practices?"
Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Ivan Berger, DDS. West Coast Clinical Director at Coast Dental (Tampa, Fla.): I'm old-school dentistry and believe that reviewing dental literature along with hands-on [continuing education] courses will always remain the key to keeping current with dental advancements and technology. In short, "doctor-to-patient" contact will provide more important feedback information as it affects treatment planning rather than asking [artificial intelligence] for answers. Artificial intelligence will never replace the dentist asking and receiving feedback [and] patient concerns, fears and expectations regarding their dental care. The human mind remains the ultimate AI engine.
That being said, there is room for limited dental AI, such as patient health and medication issues, as it impacts treatment outcome.
Michael Davis, DMD. Smiles of Santa Fe (N.M.): Currently, ChatGPT is of limited value for dentistry. It does, however, have the ability to write abstracts and introductions for journal articles.
I can see its future on websites and Facebook pages of dental practices to answer public inquiries. The one downside is "hallucinations," or nonsense answers. If a question is overly complex, ChatGTP may spit out a word salad gobbledygook answer, like a Washington, D.C., politician facing a microphone and a spotlight.
While we may give an elected official a pass, we hold the dental industry to much higher standards.
Cyrus Lee, DMD. CEO of Permanente Dental Associates (Portland, Ore.): Like the overall economy, [artificial intelligence] will eventually increase productivity in dentistry, but the AI large language models are only as good as their foundation, which is the data sets they're trained on. So it will be important to have transparency on these models and recognize any biases or limitations due to the data sets.
In the near term for dental practices, there's a few areas that come immediately to mind:
Quality control and increased precision and accuracy of individual diagnoses and treatment planning, and incorporating evidence-based guidelines, as well as overall systemic health factors
- Caries and periodontal findings
- Pathology
- Restoration design
Orthodontics
- Using AI technology for aligner design, orthodontic monitoring
Practice management
- Patient communications — patient education, patient outreach, appointment reminders
- Schedule management — scheduling of patients, efficiency of dentist schedule
Dental insurer
- Dental claim review and dental utilization review
As dentistry becomes more consolidated, data sets will also become more robust, which will continue to make diagnoses more accurate and precise, which can increase the confidence patients have in dentistry as well as improve the operations of dental practices. This will eventually lead to increased productivity in dentistry. The question is, for what will the increased productivity be used? The surgeon general’s 2021 report "Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges" concludes that while we have made substantial advances in the understanding and treatment of oral diseases and conditions, there is still much work to do. Many people of all ages and demographic backgrounds still have chronic oral health problems and lack access to care. AI could be a tool in helping to close that gap and improve the oral health, and therefore overall health, of our nation as a whole.