AI is coming to your dentist’s office. Will it build trust, or erode it?

Open wide, AI wants a look inside your mouth.

A new wave of software is promising to supercharge dentists’ ability to spot decay and bone loss — and propose treatments earlier in the disease process. In just the past three years, eight AI products have gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Many more are on the way.

These tools in some cases identify lesions years before dentists can see them on X-rays and other images, providing increased treatment opportunities backed by the seemingly objective analysis of a machine.

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