“These may seem like simple improvements, but they make a tremendous difference in terms of the workflows we face.”

Kachalia notes that Denti.AI, OverJet, and SmileCloud—among the biggest players in the AI dental space—already enable dentists to discover caries and signs of periodontal disease, measure bone loss, and even gauge how natural a specific tooth shape will look on a given patient. Better yet, some AI systems, including OverJet, can compare radiographs and data in a dentist’s practice management system to ensure patients are getting the best treatment possible for their dental issues.

“You could be asleep at home and this is mining all your data sets in the background,” he explains.

The use of AI can even prove fruitful for dentists before a patient so much as sets foot inside their office. “Software programs exist today to monitor phone calls and make determinations for why a patient did or did not schedule…it can automatically comb through your database and find patients with unscheduled procedures that would fit into those time slots,” says Kachalia, who believes that many of these programs will eventually be able to schedule appointments by looking at past cancelations, and ensure that the doctor has the correct materials on hand for the procedure the patient is coming in for.

In time, these programs may even be able to detect serious diseases to ensure treatment is carried out in a timely manner.

“We can take camera-type devices that are connected to our phones, connect them over 5G, which essentially has zero latency, and we might be able to search for things like oral cancer…the patient is immediately informed that they should seek the care of a professional.”

However, AI isn’t without its detractors, and Kachalia underscores the need to build trust with patients before introducing AI into their treatment plan.

Instead of a robot making decisions in lieu of a medical professional, “It is a second set of eyes that never gets tired and is always willing to provide an opinion.”

While some may see AI as coming between the patient and practitioner, Kachalia believes AI may actually enable dentists to have more human connection with those under their care.

When the pandemic is over, Kachalia predicts that rushed patient interactions will be replaced with more patient-centric care, and that emerging technology can help facilitate this change.

“This human element is what I believe is truly going to return to a great degree,” he says. “And AI’s going to help us get there.”