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AutomAtion in dentistry

In the early 80s, when I started my clini- More recently, digital work flow has
cal practice, we used manual hydraulic transformed the restorative aspect of our
chairs where you pumped on a pedal to efforts. Digital scanning to printing of
get a sitting patient to your working level. models to digital milling of prosthesis are
We had motorised drills which ran on amazing gifts of technology to us.
pulleys which vibrated so intensely that The infiltration of artificial intelligence
most patients preferred extraction over ‘AI’ into our lives has been long time
DR. SUSHANT UMRE restorations! Having an X-ray machine in coming. There are those who welcome it
the practice was a big thing but it was as the arrival of a new age of prosperity
enormously challenging to develop the and ease while others see it with much
I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT films flawlessly. We Invariably found speculation and extreme caution.
THE DOMAINS OF ART AND ourselves rubbing one side of the overex- However, in both cases the underlying
CREATIVE EXPRESSION posed film with sharp objects to make belief has been that AI will translate into
WOULD CONTINUE TO BE some appropriate finding. High-end automation that will make human labour
practices showed off with ultrasonic
whether physical or mental increasingly
DOMINATED BY HUMAN scalers and suction machines. irrelevant. There is a reason for said
MINDS. AND AS WE KNOW, Having seen all that, I get amused expectation. Robots and algorithms have
DENTISTRY IS AN when I hear fellow professionals’ debate been pushing human effort out of the
AMALGAMATION OF ART on whether dentistry will be taken over by mix unavoidably in vast range of sectors.
AND SCIENCE. OUR JOBS, robots and, if and when, dentists will The meaning of the content generated
ARE NOT GOING AWAY become redundant. Especially coming by AI is often deliberated upon. Some
people believe that AI generated content
from an era when the only way to locate
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME SOON. the root apex was to prick the peri-apical is worthless and lacks the depth of human
tissue with a file and provoke pain in the created content. Others argue that AI is
patient to recognize you have reached the capable of creating meaningful and valu-
apex. able content especially as it continues to
The painful endodontics of the past learn and evolve. In my opinion, automa-
have been so traumatising for the patients tion will take away a lot of human drudg-
that many are scarred for life and they ery involved in a routine dental practice
only associate agony with root canal and help us perform our work much
treatments. more satisfactorily. Machine learning
Coming from that era to now listening algorithms have already proved to out-
to an apex locator’s beeps, as you are clos- perform dentists in diagnosing tooth
ing in to the live tissue sounds like music decay or predicting whether a tooth
to me. I in fact, am looking forward to should be extracted, retained or have
robots performing endodontic proce- restorative treatment.
dures precisely and painlessly. While AI can substitute human
Intelligent automation or Artificial endeavours in many areas it could never
intelligence ‘AI’ has been a real godsend hope to substitute the power of human
for us and our patients. For example, imagination. While the common conclu-
aligners have changed the whole percep- sion is that jobs would be lost in manu-
tion of orthodontics. For many years facturing and even in some services, I
now, thanks to AI there is a predictable strongly believe that the domains of Art
technique to reposition teeth for better and creative expression would continue
aesthetics and correct occlusion without to be dominated by human minds. And
using un-aesthetic, unhygienic brackets. as we know, dentistry is an amalgamation
What’s more! you can yourself see and of art and science. Our jobs, are not going
show the expected results to the patient. away anywhere, anytime soon.

Dental Practice // November-December 2022 // Vol 18 No 6 77