Could Artificial Intelligence Reinvent Dental Practice?
According to some research, Artificial Intelligence can analyze dental X-rays more quickly and reliably, offering dentists greater efficiency and time savings in clinical settings. However, this alone does not yet create a new business model.
A business model shift could occur e.g. if X-rays are no longer taken during a dentist’s appointment, but instead by a dental hygienist. Typically, patients visit a hygienist annually for tartar removal. During this routine visit, the hygienist conducts a visual inspection of the mouth and now they would also take bitewing X-rays from both sides. AI would then analyze the images, and if it detects signs of caries, it would refer the patient to a dentist for diagnosis and treatment.
This approach allows many routine check-ups - traditionally handled by dentists - to be redirected to dental hygienists, now empowered with AI tools. As a result, the value of a hygienist's work increases significantly. Dentists can focus on treatments requiring their specialized expertise. Patients benefit from lower costs, since a visit to a hygienist is much less expensive than a dentist's examination. Meanwhile, clinics see improved profitability due to the lower cost of hygienist labor and the ability to reduce unprofitable, low-yield dentist appointments. Most importantly, overall oral health outcomes improve.
How can everyone win? Because the demand for dental care still exceeds the supply - there are more untreated, damaged, and cosmetically improvable teeth than there is capacity to treat them. The work continues, but in a far more resource-efficient way.
This type of AI-driven analysis is already in use by our partner in Sweden. Their experience shows that AI increases the number and accuracy of referrals made by hygienists, leading to more timely treatments for patients and more fulfilling, profitable work for dentists. Both professional groups report a stronger sense of purpose in their roles.
We will soon offer the AssisDent-integrated AI X-ray analysis solution in Finland to all our Romexis Image Cloud customers.