The Modern and Digital Transformation of Oral Health Care: A Mini Review

Abstract

Dentistry is a part of the field of medicine which is advocated in this digital revolution. The increasing trend in dentistry digitalization has led to the advancement in computer-derived data processing and manufacturing. This progress has been exponentially supported by the Internet of medical things (IoMT), big data and analytical algorithm, internet and communication technologies (ICT) including digital social media, augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), and artificial intelligence (AI). The interplay between these sophisticated digital aspects has dramatically changed the healthcare and biomedical sectors, especially for dentistry. This myriad of applications of technologies will not only be able to streamline oral health care, facilitate workflow, increase oral health at a fraction of the current conventional cost, relieve dentist and dental auxiliary staff from routine and laborious tasks, but also ignite participatory in personalized oral health care. This narrative article review highlights recent dentistry digitalization encompassing technological advancement, limitations, challenges, and conceptual theoretical modern approaches in oral health prevention and care, particularly in ensuring the quality, efficiency, and strategic dental care in the modern era of dentistry.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; augmented reality; big data; dental implants; digital dentistry; internet of things.

Figure 1

Virtual design in prosthodontics depicting tooth designing done digitally to amend slight rotation and tilting of the front teeth. The left picture shows a misaligned front dentition and the right picture shows the dentition after digital modifications. The final standard triangle language (STL) file is able to be three-dimensionally printed using specific resin via a 3D printer and can be used as a communication tool with the dental technician.

Figure 2

Virtual implant planning utilizing specialized software in which the dental surgeon preplans the surgical implant site using a specialized software to allow precise implant placement prior to the surgery. The figure shows a planned implant placement using R2 Gate™ (R2 Gate, Megagen, South Korea).

Figure 3

Schematic workflow of static guided surgery. Please note the 3D printing in the manufacturing stage.

Figure 4

The example of a surgical implant guide (left) virtually designed via a specialized computer software to allow a precise and accurate implant placement with the desirable inter implant distance as depicted on the right picture. The surgical guide is produced by utilizing an additive manufacturing method manufactured by a 3D printer.