How Artificial Intelligence is Shaping Dentistry

Artificial intelligence is a new technology with digital dentistry that's really going to revolutionize anything we do in dentistry. Since its inception in the 1980s, the field of intelligent systems has come a long way. The human brain has been one of the most intriguing structures to researches and technologists for as long as the history dates back. Over centuries newer technologies have developed based on principles that try to mimic the functioning of the human brain, however even today the machine that can think like a human is still a dream. An enormous amount of modern computer and technologies were inspired by Aristotle’s early attempts to formulate the logic and thinking through his syllogisms (a three part deductive reasoning).

In 1950, Alan Turing devised a machine that could decode encrypted messages. It was designed to determine whether a computer exhibits intelligence. Today, we know a similar function as “artificial intelligence “(AI). AI is a field of science and engineering that deals with the computational understanding of what is commonly called intelligent behavior and the creation of artifacts that show such behavior.

Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) must go hand in hand. They bridge the digital and physical worlds. Both of these systems, are widely used in the dental field.

Dentistry is a unique profession in the scope of medicine and is extremely demanding as requires assimilation of large amounts of knowledge combined with the acquisition of clinical skill. With the help of AI systems and augmented reality, the patient can try on a virtual prosthesis, that can be altered till the patient is satisfied and, the final prosthesis is made exactly according to these specifications. The AI systems along with virtual reality has been used not only to reduce dental anxiety but is also regarded as a powerful tool for non-pharmacological control of pain.

The applications of these artificial intelligence technologies such as expert systems, the game and theorem demonstration, natural language processing, image recognition and robotics in various fields such as telecommunications and aerospace have become manifold. Technology has also revolutionized the field of medicine and dentistry over the past decade.

Today artificial intelligence based virtual dental assistants are available in the market. As virtual assistants these software can perform a number of simple tasks in the dental clinic with greater precision, less manpower and fewer errors than human counterparts. In this post we will see how this technology is shaping the dental industry. Here are some of the characteristics of AI that offer promising realities in the dental care sector: Booking and coordinating regular appointments according the convenience of the patients and dentists. Alerting the patients and dentists about checkups whenever any genetic or lifestyle information indicates increased susceptibility to dental diseases. (eg: periodontal screening for patients with diabetes and oral cancer screening for those who habitually use smoked or smokeless tobacco)

Besides these, AI software enables you to create a complete virtual database for every patient, which can be extremely detailed and extremely accessible at the same time. Voice recognition and interactive interphases enable the software to help the dentist perform different tasks effortlessly. The AI software can document all necessary data and present it to the dentist much faster and more efficiently than a human counterpart.(eg: collecting all necessary dental records, extra oral photographs and radiographs necessary for diagnosing any dental condition). Because of its unique ability to learn, it can be trained to perform many other functions. It can be integrated with imaging systems like MRI and CBCT to identify minute deviations from normalcy that could have gone unnoticed to the human eye. This can also be used to accurately locate landmarks on radiographs, which can be used for cephalometric diagnosis. This happens simply through its ability to effectively acquire information, and sync with.

One of the greatest applications of AI is in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery with the advent of robotic surgery. A crucial challenge in the field of robotics is simulating human body motion and human intelligence.

However, AI has revolutionized the field of surgery and today there are many robotic surgeons that perform semi-automated surgical tasks with increasing efficiency under the guidance of an expert surgeon. Finally one of the most innovative applications of AI is seen in the field of “bioprinting”, where living tissue and even organs can be constructed in consecutive thin layers of cells which in the future may be used for reconstruction of oral hard and soft tissues lost due to pathological or accidental reasons.

CONCLUSION

Artificial Intelligence systems are a great aid to field of dentistry and dental education. The field of artificial intelligence in dentistry has grown tremendously in the last decade .It is without doubt that the advances in AI like neural networking, natural language processing, image recognition, and speech recognition have transformed the field of medicine and dentistry tremendously I encourage you to look into artificial intelligence in dentistry, be an early adopter because this will change the practice and change your life outside of dentistry as well. 

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