I am always keen to learn about the latest technological development impacting life as we know it. As a dentist, my fascination with technology and its potential to streamline the delivery of health and dental care only adds fuel to my research. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an area of particular interest given its rapid advancement in the last few years.
As such, there has been an influx of information on the subject. The development of platforms like Chat GPT, Perplexity and Copy.ai has opened up a new world of possibilities for all to benefit from. Whether you’re looking for support in writing patient emails, creating social media graphics, constructing a business plan or more, these programmes can provide an excellent starting point and guide.
From a clinical perspective, AI-driven software is increasingly being utilised to support the delivery of treatment as well. One of the latest studies I came across showed Japanese researchers[i] using deep learning classification models to accurately identify dental implants.
With so many different implant systems on the market, it can be difficult for clinicians to confirm the brand they are working with when needing to restore an implant placed previously by another dentist. Using a dataset containing thousands of images, the software analysed panoramic and periapical images to detect the implant in place with high precision. It demonstrates the potential application of semi-automated implant classification to help clinicians deliver enhanced implant maintenance and restorative care to patients.
Just as is true of the content creation and interactive AI programmes mentioned earlier, this kind of technology is still restricted. For a start, it is wholly dependent on the existing data it has access to. Where information is missing from it sources, the software will be incapable of finding an accurate solution. This also leaves it open to bias, so it is crucial to ensure that any programmes used draw from reliable and expansive datasets with the lowest possible risk of data skew. For all its benefits, AI lacks true understanding, meaning it doesn’t have the human-like comprehension needed to make sensible assumptions or reasonings in the absence of information.
With this in mind, AI-driven solutions are proving hugely advantageous across various dental disciplines. Implantology is the latest field to benefit from programme development, but I have no doubt that we will all be using it much more in the not-too-distant-future.
EndoCare, led by Dr Michael Sultan, is one of the UK’s most trusted Specialist Endodontist practices. Through the use of the latest technologies and techniques, the highly-trained team can offer exceptional standards of care – always putting the patient first. What’s more, EndoCare is a dependable referral centre, to which dentists from across the country send their patients for the best in specialist endodontic treatment.
[i] Sukegawa, S., Yoshii, K., Hara, T. et al. Optimizing dental implant identification using deep learning leveraging artificial data. Sci Rep 15, 3724 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-87579-3
