Artificial intelligence, virtual reality and robotics are becoming some of the most innovative technologies in dentistry, and leaders are looking ahead at their potential.
Three dental executives recently joined Becker’s “Dental + DSO Virtual Event” to discuss these technologies and their evolution.
Editor’s note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: How do you see dental technology evolving over the next five years?
Marci Levine, DMD, MD, Clinical Associate Professor at New York University College of Dentistry (New York City): I think the technologies will continue to get better and better. In the near future, it will be very much a part of a patient’s understanding of what a dentist is able to do. For so long, dentistry has been thought of as being rather routine, rather based on a practitioner’s comfort level. Being in the educational space, I’m often encountering people who are at a dental school for a variety of reasons, and typically practice because this is the way it’s always worked for them … dentists tend to become comfortable, and things that have worked for them tend to become part of their everyday repertoire. It can be challenging to bring in new technology, and I find this conversation especially exciting because we see how dentistry is going leaps and bounds beyond other areas, and I think it naturally lends itself toward technology.
Source: The technology dental leaders are keeping an eye on / Becker’s Dental