Oral Health and Dental science
Open AccessThe Effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use in Public Oral Health Programs, and on Patient Health Information (PHI) Governance, Diagnostics, and Dental Health Provider Employment over the next Ten Years in American Dentistry.
Authors: Geetanjeli Sheogobind, Kwadwo Brenya, Azghar Akbari, Davina Anyanwu, Seong Bae, Chinedu Ezenwa, Jahsiah Greene, TyShawn Harris, Kierstyn Heaven, Hamza Ilyas, Omar Ismail, Brian Jones, Awneet Kaur, Jahnavi Kyla, Omar Mushtaq, Sai Lavanya Pasula, Humza Qazi, Jonah Vigilant.
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly entering clinical and administrative domains of medicine. Dentistry is no exception. This article examines plausible pathways by which AI will influence diagnostics, public oral health programs (including fluoride surveillance), patient health information governance, and employment across the U.S. dental workforce in the next decade. Four focused body sections present arguments for and against diffusion of AI with concrete examples: (1) diagnostic and chairside augmentation, (2) public-health surveillance including fluoride monitoring, (3) data governance and patient privacy, and (4) workforce and employment implications. The article concludes that AI will probably improve diagnostic sensitivity, expand preventive population-level tools, and streamline administrative burdens but will also raise risks of algorithmic bias, privacy gaps, regulatory lag, and uneven workforce displacement. These observations specifically need policy, education, support from stakeholders and careful implementation to determine whether AI amplifies oral- health equity or exacerbates disparities.
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