Australian healthcare is embracing a digital revolution and artificial intelligence (AI) is leading the charge.
While many of us are familiar with scribing services used by GPs and other healthcare professionals, fewer may realise how AI-enhanced technology has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy, enhance treatment planning, and support health education in dentistry.
Embracing change
In dental care, AI is fast becoming a game-changer.
Imagine creating orthodontic treatment plans that deliver predictable outcomes or boost the success rate of root canals or dental implants by recommending an approach based on your individual risk profile.
AI can also help to:
- diagnose and measure changes to gum disease
- test for presence of cavity-causing bacteria and create disease risk profiles
- detect mouth cancers early
- prevent mouth infections in people with compromised immune systems
- enhance x-ray and radiology diagnoses
- print fillings and caps using 3D computer-aided design
- support remote and telehealth to empower self-monitoring.
It’s not just patients who benefit; dental students can learn in entirely new ways – from practising procedures on home-based platforms to simulating complex treatments before stepping into the clinic.
A rapid uptake of tech in clinical practice prompted us to conduct a scoping review where we analysed 31 peer-reviewed papers on AI applications in dental and general healthcare.
In general, the promise of rapid health diagnostics and streamlined workflows is enthralling. Yet AI deployment in our healthcare requires transparent and robust evaluation frameworks to prevent misdiagnosis, promote equity and maintain professional trust.
Questions to ask before you bite
How can you inform yourself about the impact of AI in your healthcare? Here are 4 questions to ask your healthcare professional:
1. Is the software used to generate a treatment plan for my condition registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)?
AI-enhanced software (excluding scribing services) that ‘works to achieve a therapeutic purpose’ is treated as a medical device in Australia.
This ensures the software has passed rigorous testing to maximise safety and accountability.
2. How is my information managed?
We need large volumes of data to train AI systems. However, using our data to train AI models may come at a cost to our rights to privacy and confidentiality.
Is your data being used to train other models? How, where and for how long is it being stored?
Compared to many countries, Australia has very strict rules around personal data use and storage. Developers are required to conform to Australian guidelines, if your data is stored overseas.
3. Are AI-supported programs 100 per cent accurate?
If you suffer from a rare illness or identify as a minority, the outcomes or recommendations predicted by software maybe too broad to meet your personal needs.
Predictive outcomes require large volumes of data to train the software and sometimes AI-software will choose to ‘fill in the blanks’, rather than admit it doesn’t know.
Made-up AI responses are called ‘hallucinations’; the responses seem real but can be inaccurate.
4. Can my health practitioner validate the course of treatment recommended by AI?
AI-enhanced software are powerful tools to help make decisions, yet the responsibility of how these decisions play-out to manage your health lies with your treating practitioner.
Consequently, we need to ensure our practitioners have enough training to understand the pros and cons of AI-software recommendations.
I am a healthcare worker, what do I need to think about?
In addition to dentistry, there are 11 other health practitioners registered with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency that share the same code of conduct.
These are practitioners in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, Chinese medicine, chiropractors, medical radiation, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathy, paramedicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy and podiatry.
If you practice one of these professions, you may find our publication Artificial intelligence in Australian Dental and General Healthcare: A scoping review in Australian Dental Journal helpful to understand your professional obligations within the Australian context.
A future to make you smile
I believe we are in the teenage phase of AI and digital technology-enhanced healthcare.
There are a lot of exciting developments occurring in many fields that will change the way we prevent, treat and manage your health.
For instance, the increased adoption of technology will reduce health practitioners’ cognitive loads to help deliver truly patient-centred care.
To elevate patient-centred care, AI will help automate administrative tasks that bog us down, provide shared expertise and ‘second’ collective expert opinions in a flash.
Should you require a complex treatment, AI will allow multiple practitioners in different locations to practice and problem solve your surgery or intervention before performing the procedure on you.
In an AI-augmented future, health practitioners can spend more quality time with you and improve your health outcomes – a future that is sure to make you smile and live a healthy life (for longer).
