HJAR May/Jun 2024

44 MAY / JUN 2024 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS ORAL HEALTH THE MAJORITY of people may believe arti- ficial intelligence (AI) is new, but it has been around a while. Historians cite the birth of AI around the 1950s, as this is the time the basis for it was explored by a British mathemati- cian, Alan Turing. 1 The term “artificial intel- ligence”was coined in the summer of 1956 at a historic conference held at Dartmouth Uni- versity. It brought together top researchers from various fields, and this event catalyzed the future AI exploration. 2 Flash forward to today; we all utilize AI without realizing it. Opening a cellphone with Face ID, operating Google Maps or social media platforms, sending emails or block- ing them, using digital voice assistants, com- pleting banking transactions, and streaming services like Netflix all utilizeAI. It is almost hard to find a task via electronic means that DIALOGUE COLUMN ORAL HEALTH identified by AI in radiology. This is accom- plished by the technology “suggesting” a list of differential diagnoses when assessing the patient’s clinical and radiological records. 5 In order to employ AI in imaging, it is es- sential to provide substantial high-quality data to educate and train the system. The radiologist must complete a series of cura- tions and meticulous calibrations to make the process for the system workable and replicate accurately and error-free, which takes considerable time. 5 In dental imaging, AI assists dentists in examinations and ana- lyzes images such as CT scans and X-rays to recognize and identify dental caries and periodontal disease. This technology assists the dentist tomake more informed diagnoses, which can lead to earlier intervention result- ing in better treatment outcomes. 6 doesn’t use AI. AI technologies utilize machine learning and deep learning, in which algorithms ex- ecute assignments using data and accomplish tasks through mathematical formulas. 3 It is a bit easier to think of AI as cognitive thinking by a machine instead of a human. AI has exploded in numerous fields, and dentistry is no different. Before 2018, not much was written on the subject of AI in den- tistry, however, the amount of research and publications escalated in 2019. 4 The number of ways it is currently being used, as well as the potential ways yet to be utilized, in den- tistry is fascinating. A wide range of diseases such as dental caries, periodontal disease, odontogenic cysts and tumors, maxillary sinus tumors, and dis- eases of the temporomandibular joints can be THE USE OF AI IN DENTISTRY: WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS