What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t a new concept. In fact, it was first mentioned in the 1950s by Minsky and McCarthy, who were considered to be pioneering experts in the field. They referred to AI as a task performed by a machine or programme that, if a human was to carry out exactly the same activity, the person would have to use intelligence to succeed in completing the task. The sorts of tasks could be anything to do with planning, reasoning, the sharing of knowledge and problem-solving.

Since those early days computers have increasingly taken over tasks normally associated with humans. This has enabled industries of all types to manufacture products more efficiently. AI is now so well developed that medicine is using it in a multitude of situations, enabling better outcomes for patients.  When a patient visits an emergency room, diagnosis is faster and more accurate. This means the right treatment is given, which means less delay than might happen if doctors have to discuss a case before deciding on a diagnosis.

AI is also being used to improve communication between medical personnel. In the long run, this all means that by patients getting the right treatment in the fastest time frame reduces time spent in hospital so reducing the stress levels of family and friends.

How the Watson platform uses AI to help the medical profession

The Watson platform was introduced by IBM into medical facilities to assist oncologists to come up with the most appropriate treatment for patients.  All the doctor has to do is input a patient’s diagnosis into Watson which at a touch of a button instantly recommends the best treatment suited to the data it has about the patient. It has already been fed with information provided by medical journals.  With this huge amount of accumulated knowledge, its AI allegedly comes up with the best treatment plan.

AI for dentistry makes its mark

AI is now being used to improve the efficiency of dentistry. Dr. John Kois has developed a similar AI model to IBM’s Watson called Evidentiae. It focuses more on using cloud-based dental software. It concentrates on information processing at the patient level, starting with an online patient history form and all the data relevant to the patient’s treatment.

Evidentiae’s algorithm has been designed to extract data from both medical and dental histories which have been inputted into it and charted examination findings. This enables the technology to generate a full overview of the dental health status of your patient. It has been so well developed that it is able to come up with a valuable diagnosis for periodontal issues and dento-facial alterations. It’s the best AI assistance yet invented for the dental profession.

A few years ago CephX understood the need for artificial intelligence in the dental industry. In response, they created the first cephalometric analysis intelligent algorithm. It enabled orthodontic practitioners to upload their patients’ cephalometric scan and to receive in a matter of seconds a full cephalometric tracing and analysis. This technology improved dramatically the way it was done, because now dentists could instantly receive a full and accurate analysis.

AI and Big Data in Dentistry

With AI and big data making inroads into dentistry soon algorithms will be diagnosing dental problems and the diagnosis will be sent directly to you. This is a step ahead of CephX and cephalometric analysis which is currently helping you with instantly tracing and analysing cephalometric scans. However, it is starting to move quickly as it is developing more intelligent algorithms for the orthodontic industry. One of them is the algorithm that can instantly segment all of your patient’s teeth.

Deep-learning in machine learning is becoming relevant to Dentistry

Advanced technologies that are disrupting all of our lives are also helping to revolutionize dentistry in numerous ways. Deep learning, which is an AI cutting-edge technique in machine learning, is using layered neural networks which are patterned on a human’s brain. Traditionally machine-learning relies on rules that have been handcrafted but defined by experts in human domain but do not improve with bigger datasets. Deep learning has the capacity to create its own unique rules that do improve when more data is added, making it particularly suited at interpreting unstructured data that’s required for more advanced applications like self-driving cars, the prediction of earthquakes, detection of disease and diagnosis and recommendations for treatment in medicine. Dentists do actually have some access to an AI deep learning platform for the detection of cavities today.

AI that can read CT scans for dentistry

Research and development of AI is progressing at such a fast rate that software are already able to read and interpret CT scans and other dental images. In the near future, it will suggest the best diagnosis and treatment which it has gleaned from its ability to review and analyse countless images that have been stored in numerous patients’ databases. What’s particularly important to dentistry is the speed and accuracy that emerges from the use of AI.

The medical profession is presently benefiting a lot from VisualDx, an AI technology that doctors can use to input patient symptoms and any relevant images and within a matter of seconds plausible diagnoses can be retrieved. This AI is soon likely to penetrate the dental industry.

The future of AI in the next decade

In the medical field at least AI is going to become increasingly relevant. This will result in administrative practices being far more streamlined. This, in turn, leads to a reduction in costs. It’s expected that there will be a far higher chance that any unnecessary medical procedures will be avoided, which should heighten patient satisfaction. This is all due to the way information is being inputted and the way humans are communicating with devices.

In the early stages of storing information, a human had to manually enter data. Graphical user interface (GUI) came next, followed by the development of the touch screen and the rapid evolution of mobile devices. All this, coupled with massive improvements in internet connectivity, has brought us to where we are today.

The dentist and a virtual assistant

Human voice recognition is increasingly being used to input information into an AI device. In a decade or so, dentists and others in the medical community will be communicating with AI devices using their own voices. AI will be able to assimilate and analyse data and recommend the best treatment options. This will be happening in the dentist’s chair, where communication with the dentist and the AI device will sound quite natural and not stilted.

It won’t be just a computer standing side by side with the dentist, but a virtual assistant using AI. It will be provided with so much data to analyse that it will come up with just the right treatment in orthodontics and other dental procedures and the future care requirements for the patient, dependent on data that it has been given to analyse. The virtual assistant will be able to make recommendations regarding future care requirements which will depend on the genetic data of the patient.

Summary

In the near future, AI will be able to help the dental practitioner spot a possible tumor, or other irregularities in teeth or gums, through an X-ray or CT scans. Artificial intelligence is already used in some medical centers to improve the efficiency of health care delivery. Software is being further developed to make surgery and imaging test timetabling more efficient by predicting how long each scheduled procedure will take. This and other innovative solutions can easily be adapted for use in a dental practice. CephX’s technologies which are all based on AI are trying to achieve exactly that.

An impacted tooth, i.e. a tooth which hasn’t completely erupted, is unlikely to do so because of its position in relation to adjacent teeth and nearby bone or soft tissue. Impacted teeth are most commonly the mandibular 3rd permanent molar, the maxillary permanent canine or, on occasions, the premolars. The impaction could be vertical, horizontal, mesioangular, distoangular and sometimes inverted, which is actually a rare occurrence. Inversion is quite extreme, as in this case the tooth has reversed its position and is upside down. In order for orthodontists or dentists to correctly treat this condition they need to be able to localize it precisely to make a treatment program easier to implement.

The cause of impacted teeth

Typically, a tooth becomes impacted when the patient’s mouth does not have sufficient space for it. The most likely teeth to become impacted are the wisdom teeth. Because they are the last to erupt, the jaw and mouth may have stopped growing, leaving no space for these newly erupting teeth. Maxillary canines, or cuspids, may also become impacted.

When the canine teeth are impacted, you may use eruption aids, such as braces to encourage the impacted teeth to erupt. If you are unable to get the impacted tooth to erupt it may need to be extracted and a dental bridge or implant can then be fitted into the space. Accurate imaging techniques are vital to determining possible treatment options.

When dentists and orthodontists need to localize impacted teeth

It’s difficult to see the topography of both the impacted tooth and the area around it without using a reliable imaging diagnostic tool. Up to now, before treatment could take place, 2D imaging techniques have typically been used to get dental imagery in order to make an accurate diagnosis and for localizing the non-erupted teeth so that treatment can be planned. More recently, it has been discovered that 2D radiography has not been sufficient to determine the precise location of the problem, including what the impact is on adjacent teeth, and the structure of the affected tooth’s roots, which is key to starting any type of useful treatment.

The cephalogram, or ceph, has been in use by orthodontists as the usual method of getting dental imagery for analyzing the dental, skeletal and soft tissue relationships in patients for a number of years. 2D, or direct cephalometric x-ray technology, has been used successfully for many decades by orthodontists. Currently, orthodontists still use this method, although some dental clinics have begun to use 3D cephalometric analysis as an addition. If a patient is seeking to get teeth straightened through the use of braces treatment or aligners, the better the analysis of the patient’s teeth, the better the subsequent treatment program initiated.

The most recent diagnostic tools used by dentists and orthodontists

At the forefront of diagnostic tools, as well as computed tomography (CT) and 3D tools, is cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), which has been shown to produce high-quality 3D images that provide an accurate diagnosis with a minimum amount of distortion. The cost factor is important, but this technique compares favorably with others and it clearly reduces radiation exposure to much lower levels than other CT technology. CBCT has shown its capability to improve diagnosis and its contribution to modifying treatment planning for impacted teeth. CBCT has shown it can more accurately localize a tooth, evaluate its position in relation to other teeth, assess the follicle size and analyze resorption of any adjacent teeth. A dentist working alone needs to annotate teeth, including impacted teeth, which can be hard work because imaging software is used which is then interpreted manually.

Studies have indicated that CBCT provides much more information than other methods for localizing impacted teeth, root resorption, cleft palate and 3rd molar assessments. CBCT also provides better images of roots, so it’s a valuable tool for the assessment of pre-orthodontic or post-orthodontic root re-sorption. It has also been shown to be the best option for determining the angulations of roots.

The increase in availability of CBCT technology has meant that the greater use of it has led to further development of the technique by dentists and orthodontists leading to better treatment outcomes for patients. As far as impacted teeth are concerned, images obtained through CBCT are able to accurately determine their angulation and buccal-palatal location. It is also able to pinpoint the exact location of impacted teeth in relation to adjacent teeth’s roots as well as the extent of resorption.

Being able to get an accurate view of these features is important in planning appropriate treatment to move the impacted tooth in the arch and lower the risk of root resorption taking place in adjacent teeth. Different kinds of imaging software permit CBCT image reconstruction in several planes, which offers a more precise view of the position of the impacted tooth.

When CBCT should be used

Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has taken over more recently as an important method of collecting 3D volumetric data. However, it is typically considered that it should only be used in certain cases when more conventional radiography is unable to provide adequate diagnostic information. The sort of specific situations include those patients who suffer from a cleft palate, assessing the position of an un-erupted tooth, a supernumerary tooth, identifying root resorption and planning orthognathic surgery.

2D diagnostic imaging, like traditional radiographs, cephs, photos and videos, has been used routinely to provide orthodontic diagnosis for many years, but not with complete accuracy. The limitation of this type of imaging has been overcome by CBCT and is likely to be used more often in the future. It’s a useful diagnostic tool for planning braces and aligner treatment as it gives a better overall image of the structure of the teeth.

Artificial intelligence in the dental world

As more and more devices are used to assess the status of teeth, so Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are starting to dominate all areas of life. AI is revolutionizing the transforming of unstructured data into useful information which is likely to become just as relevant to the dental industry. AI provides an end to end solution which in the end will provide better outcome for patients.

At CephX, we help orthodontic practitioners throughout the world save valuable time by providing accurate dental imagery analyses and interpretations. We offer an immediate service which is the highest quality cephalometric analysis that improves your practice productivity and efficiency.

Currently, we offer 2D x-ray analysis only, but soon we are opening our doors to 3D analyses, as well as immediate and accurate 3D teeth annotation, including the localization of impacted teeth.