Second Opinion AI Technology for Interpreting Radiographs: Can Dental AI Solutions Really Improve Patient Outcomes?

The development of new solutions across many fields has made AI one of today’s most discussed topics. While many opportunities are arising, some are fairly skeptical about its use in important areas such as law and art. Nevertheless, medical AI technology is here, and your next visit to the dentist could involve solutions such as Second Opinion® dental AI.

Challenges in Diagnosis and Treatment Planning

Dental technology has made impressive leaps and bounds over the past few years. New options, such as dental implants, are improving restoration options, and a variety of 3D imaging technologies are improving diagnosis and treatment planning. Many challenges, however, have yet to be overcome.

Early diagnoses make up one such challenge. When it comes to dental conditions, identifying an issue as soon as possible can provide the best treatment outcomes. Spotting dental caries and tooth decay in their early stages can prevent the need for root canals or fillings by allowing for rapid intervention.

Radiographs (X-rays) are an essential tool in diagnosis and treatment planning, allowing dentists a closer look at your teeth and jaw. However, traditional X-rays aren’t always intuitive to evaluate: Even with years of experience, there are some details in patient X-rays that human eyes simply can’t recognize.

That also complicates planning, as unseen defects and decay can affect treatment outcomes. Without knowledge of these issues, dentists cannot effectively devise a comprehensive treatment plan. The issues may continue to develop, affecting restorative or cosmetic results.

Putting the Strengths of AI to Work

Here is where AI technology-assisted dental care comes into the picture. The challenge of obtaining all possible insights from X-rays is a problem of image recognition and pattern detection, which are areas that AI solutions have excelled in long before their recent rise in public interest. As such, they are already put to use in these areas within many different applications, including your phone’s camera.

Of course, dental AI solutions are highly refined to their specific use. Nevertheless, these digital innovations make it possible to leverage all of the information captured by dental X-rays.

There are many minute details and hidden patterns that can provide useful insights and guide treatment: Dental AI identifies those details, providing additional information from the same dental X-rays that otherwise wouldn’t be possible for human analysis alone to identify.

Second Opinion® Dental AI

Second Opinion® is a prime example of AI technology in dentistry and the solution we’ve implemented at Pries Dental Care in order to provide the best for our patients in West San Jose. It is making a major impact on the level of care and patient outcomes our team can deliver.

The technology implements Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) pre-processing to provide the highest quality radiographic analysis, enhancing X-rays so that defects due to degradation, over/underexposure, and digital artifacts do not negatively impact evaluations.

Radiologic machine vision models then evaluate the pre-processed images to detect and identify many different characteristics. The solution detects specific anatomical features, assessing whether certain features are regular or irregular. It also detects restorations, such as crowns and bridges, so they don’t obscure results.

Most importantly, Second Opinion® detects pathological features and defects such as cavities and lesions, and it can do so with incredible accuracy on even the smallest details, even accurately measuring size and scope. As such, it is possible to identify cavities and tooth decay much earlier than without AI analysis.

How Your Dentist Works With Dental AI

It’s important to note that, while powerful, dental AI isn’t a catch-all solution to every dental issue. Instead, it serves to support your dentist and allow them to provide you with higher-quality care. You still rely on the expertise, knowledge, and trust of a skilled dentist, of course, but now they’re putting the latest technology to work for you as well.

The early detection of dental issues allows your dentist to provide far less invasive interventions. For instance, when detected at the earliest stages of development, tooth decay can be reversed through changes to your oral hygiene, fluoride treatment, and other preventive measures.

Similarly, detecting a cavity as it starts to form allows for a filling as soon as possible, which can prevent the spread of tooth decay from reaching the inner layers of your tooth, which would call for a root canal treatment and likely a dental crown.

In both cases, dental AI works to provide improvements in terms of long-term oral health, comfort, and experience. By choosing a dentist who combines the latest technologies with personalized treatment efforts and effective patient communication, you can get the very best for your smile.

Modern Dental Treatment in West San Jose

Visit Pries Dental Care for the most technologically advanced dentistry in the Bay Area. Dr. Gus Pries elevates your dental experience by providing advanced, modern procedures using state-of-the-art technology, ensuring top-quality care for patients in West San Jose and San Jose.

Ready for the best preventative dentist in San Jose to give you the perfect smile you’ve always dreamed of?