Dental Asia March/April 2023

TRENDS
Artificial intelligence
in dental practice
By Dr Kristina Bertl, PhD MSc MBA
Consistent and flawless home oral hygiene
is the most important element of periodontal
therapy. However, it is also one of the most
difficult aspects to effect positive change
and improve our patients’ behaviour and
attitude. With this in mind, why not try modern
technology?
A group of researchers from Taiwan has
tested the use of artificial intelligence in
periodontal therapy (Shen et al. 2022). As
part of a randomised, controlled clinical trial,
they recruited 53 stage III and IV periodontitis
patients. All patients were given non-surgical
periodontal treatment, the outcome of which
was assessed after three months. The
patients were divided into three groups:
• Control group: No further/additional
intervention
• Artificial intelligence group: For this group,
home oral hygiene was checked on a
weekly basis using a smartphone app and
standardised text messages sent to the
patient based on the result
• Artificial intelligence with personalised
advice group: For this group, home oral
hygiene was checked on a weekly basis
using a smartphone app, but the patient
was also given personalised tips from
a dental hygienist in addition to the
standardised text messages
Three months after non-surgical periodontal
therapy, there were significant differences
between the three groups:
• Both groups that used artificial intelligence
showed better results than the control
group for plaque values, probing depth and
clinical attachment level
• The personalised tips from a dental
hygienist led to even greater improvements
in probing depth and the clinical
attachment level
One weakness of this study was the high
rate of participants who did not complete the
study; only 38 of the 54 periodontitis patients
attended all appointments up to the threemonth
check. Nevertheless, these results
are very interesting, particularly for a modern
dental practice specialising in periodontology.
On the one hand, they demonstrated that
frequent (weekly) checks improves patient
compliance in terms of home oral hygiene
and that better clinical results could therefore
be achieved, but also that the importance of
personal commitment and personalised tips
should not be underestimated. DA
REFERENCE
Shen, K.-L., Huang, C.-L., Lin, Y.-C., Du, J.-K., Chen,
F.-L., Kabasawa, Y., Chen, C.-C., & Huang, H.-L.
(2022). Effects of artificial intelligence-assisted
dental monitoring intervention in patients with
periodontitis: A randomised controlled trial. Journal
of Clinical Periodontology, 49(10), 988–998.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Kristina Bertl
graduated from the
Medical University of
Vienna (MUV) in 2010
and pursued MSc in
Periodontology in 2012.
She then achieved her
PhD degree in 2015 and docent status
in 2014. In 2018, she completed an MBA
degree in Healthcare Management. Dr Bertl
is a recognised specialist in periodontology
from Sweden (2021), and published about
80 papers in international, peer-reviewed
journals.