Abstract

Dentists, Dentistry, Industry, Sector

With the rise of artificial intelligence in recent years, many industries have undergone significant changes following the advent of AI, leading to the emergence of numerous AI-related startups in finance, insurance, retail, healthcare, and more. The dental industry is no exception. Although it may not be as fiercely competitive as other sectors (given that healthcare requires a certain level of industry knowledge and high-quality data), many companies are still investing in AI for healthcare. However, based on my over ten years of experience working in the oral digital system platform, healthcare is still relatively “slow” in certain aspects. This “slowness” may be interpreted by some as a need for more validation in clinical settings before adoption. It is undeniable that this is the case. What I refer to as “slowness” is more accurately described as the “slowness of digitalization.”

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Several Stages in the Evolution of Oral Healthcare:

The evolution of oral healthcare throughout history can be roughly divided into several stages:

1. Primitive Traditional Era
   • Most practitioners relied on their clinical experience and used traditional tools to serve patients with oral issues. The instruments and materials in dentistry were constantly evolving, leading to competition among new technologies emerging over time. The main value during this stage was the development of more precise devices and instruments, lower costs, better treatment methods, and more efficient treatment processes.
2. Digital and IoT Era
   • With the widespread adoption of computers across various industries and the increasing volume of clinical data, problems from the traditional era began to surface. The storage of paper data became a pressing issue, prompting a shift towards “digitalization.” This included the digitization of equipment, materials data, and case management. This evolution led to concepts like cloud data, multi-platform, and cross-platform becoming prevalent in the oral healthcare field. It is undeniable that the digital era has had a significant impact on the healthcare industry.
   • Another development accompanying digitalization is the Internet of Things (IoT). From my observations, the emergence of IoT aims to facilitate communication between devices/machines and people (as well as communication among devices themselves). This concept essentially lays the groundwork for artificial intelligence, emphasizing the importance of “communication.”
3. Artificial Intelligence Era
   • By utilizing massive amounts of healthcare data (such as radiographs and patient cases) through specific algorithms and prolonged training, the possibilities become limitless. In the past, advancements relied on improvements in medical technology or equipment and materials. However, in the age of artificial intelligence, tasks that once required significant manpower can now be managed more efficiently, reducing labor costs. AI offers the oral healthcare industry (and the entire medical field) more possibilities than previously imagined, shifting the focus from treatment to prevention.

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Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry:

The dental industry consists of four main components: the supply chain, institutions, and patients.

• Supply Chain - Manufacturing
  • The manufacturing sector can use artificial intelligence to achieve faster and more precise product iterations, analyze equipment data, design models, and identify issues in older versions. Companies can also leverage a knowledge base using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to compile vast amounts of documents into a private, intelligent chatbot.
• Supply Chain - Distribution Agents - Sales and After-Sales
  • I believe this segment is crucial for the entire dental industry. The products manufactured need distribution agents to handle market sales, online presence, and service. These agents possess industry-specific technical know-how. Therefore, AI can be utilized at the distribution level to optimize service processes, sales workflows, management procedures, and logistics.
• Institutional Level
  • This includes healthcare institutions such as hospitals, large chain clinics, and regional clinics that primarily provide medical services, composed of dentists, assistants, and administrative staff. During treatment, medical imaging needs to be captured, followed by the dentist providing oral analysis and interpretation for the patient, utilizing AI to generate reports.
• Patient Level
  • Daily dental care for patients can involve AI-enabled electric toothbrushes that record brushing data and inform users about areas that may not be cleaned thoroughly.

Conclusion:

Oral healthcare remains a relatively niche segment within the medical field. Although it only represents a small part of healthcare, it holds significant market potential, especially in this era of explosive growth in artificial intelligence. Each segment presents opportunities for innovation, but acceptance and recognition by the market (users) are essential for success.

- Founder Frank