Have you wondered about technology's impact on how you take care of your teeth? All walks of life, including oral health, are now integrating Artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In every aspect of oral health care, including diagnosis and treatment plans, AI is revolutionizing it to enhance the quality of care and the efficiency of patient appointments at the dental office.
Let's begin from the bottom. What is Artificial Intelligence? In simple terms, the technology enables a computer or a computer-controlled machine to carry out activities normally requiring human intellect.
Using AI systems makes it easier to read X-rays and examine aesthetically unappealing problems such as caries or periodontal diseases, which are too intricate for proper vision. In fact, according to research done in JAMA Network Open, AI can possess a diagnosis capability for dental diseases up to 94%, far greater than the normal human accuracy of 84%. It also helps identify the treatment when it would be most effective, thus decreasing suffering, enhancing treatment, and eventually making a cleaner mouth.
There is a growing trend among dental offices to use artificial intelligence-based software to develop more effective treatments for individual patients. Such solutions in oral health care enable the development of evidence-based approaches.
As beneficial as AI is to dentistry, it saves time by relieving administrative burdens. The management of appointments, patient records, and filing of insurance forms are often time-draining and monotonous. However, there are systems supported by AI that would simplify such tasks and make it possible for them to provide better services to patients at the practice.
According to a survey from the American Dental Association, nearly 75% of dental practices were reported to adopt various forms of technologies to enhance operational performance. Automating these processes reduces the time people spend waiting and improves patient care.
What is more captivating about using technology in oral health is that it enhances patients' cooperation, comprehension, and awareness of the importance of oral hygiene. Nowadays, AI chatbots are utilized on websites and social media in dental offices to answer common questions, make appointments, or remind people about dental check-ups.
Regarding oral health management, inventions, particularly artificial intelligence technology, will undoubtedly shape the distant future of a person's oral health condition.
Analysts suggest that the healthcare AI market will grow to 4552.5 billion dollars by 2026 from 232 billion dollars, of which a significant percentage will be related to dentist practice management software. Such growth indicates that more dental practices will adopt AI technologies, thus improving the care that patients receive worldwide.