Artificial intelligence and other digital technologies are expected to have a greater impact on the dental industry, according to Barry Lyon, DDS.
Dr. Lyon is a chief dental officer for the division of orthodontics and pediatric dentistry at Sarasota, Fla.-based DSO Dental Care Alliance. He recently spoke with Becker's about the effects technological advancements will have on the dental industry.
Editor's note: This Q&A is part of a weekly series featuring Dr. Lyon focused on topics in the dental industry and DSO field. Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What do you think will be the next big disruptor to the dental industry?
Dr. Barry Lyon: Dentistry made a huge technological advancement in the late 1800s when the 3000 [revolutions per minute] dental drill was invented. Sixty years later, there was another leap forward when the air turbine dental drill was invented, and speeds increased to 180,000 rpm. These advances will pale in comparison to the quantum leap dentistry will make soon. Technology will be the profession’s great disrupter.
Advances in modern dentistry will be based primarily on artificial intelligence and digitization. AI and its developing algorithms will affect the diagnosis and treatment of all dental diseases.
Everything from augmented reality, virtual reality and even smart toothbrushes will become standard fare for tomorrow’s dentists. There will be advances in patient education, dental student education, oral diagnosis and treatment. The old paradigm of a differential diagnosis that guided dentists for generations will be streamlined by advanced technology. Imagine how virtual reality can be used in dental education. Students will be able to directly and intimately view how various treatments are performed. A huge step forward from peering over an instructor’s shoulders.
As cutting-edge as computer-assisted design, 3D imaging and teledentistry appear today, the advances for care using regenerative dentistry and [clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats] are mind-boggling. Imagine being able to perform gene editing for the treatment of periodontal disease, dental caries, head and neck cancer or regrowing lost tooth structure or individual teeth.
The future of patient care will be unlike anything we see today.