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The future is now
I’ve seen the future, and it's not veneers.
Back in April 2023 I wrote an article about AI and dentistry. You can read it here.
These were some thoughts at the time.
“No doubt that AI will be having an impact on your work life soon, check this out.. Pearl AI
Reading radiographs accurately can be difficult at times and one has to constantly recalibrate oneself to check your findings clinically with what you have seen on the radiograph.
Having technology to assist with this will be great. Maybe, the danger is if there is a complete reliance on the AI. I suppose there would need to be a period of adjustment to find the sweet spot.”
Earlier this week, Matt Hopcraft published a thought peice on what to do with incidental findings on radiographs.
I attended ADX last week and having recently sold my practice, I was not in the market to buy much but I was keen to view AI based radiographic analysis in the flesh. I also wanted to show it to a friend who works in the public dental health sector, as I feel it presents significant value to that setting.
Finally I had the opportunity to see Pearl in action,
I also came across an Australian offering developed in conjunction with the CSIRO called Eyes of AI.
I’m not going to do a deep dive into the differences between the two solutions, you can do that for yourself. I'm talking about how companies with these valuable products get them into the mainstream.
In 1962 Everett Rogers first proposed the Diffusion of innovations theory which seeks to explain “how, why and at what rate new ideas and technology spread”. (Wikipedia)
Both these companies, Pearl and Eyes of AI, are at the edge of what is known as “The Chasm”, which is the gap that needs to be crossed in order to reach mainstream consumers and encourage them to purchase, following on from the early adopters.
This easy to read paper explains the process of innovation if you are not familiar with this theory.
“The sole goal of the organisation in its attempt to cross The Chasm should be to secure a beachhead in a mainstream market to create a pragmatist customer base that is referenceable.”
So who will benefit most from this technology and who will the early adopters be?
Well, if I still owned my six chair practice (which I sold this week!) I would be looking at this technology closely and making a purchase. The reason? because I had a team of three OHTs and two associate dentists. So it would assist me in quality assurance, audit and team development, plus I would never tire of using it!
The other reason? I am an unashamed enthusiast for new technology. We have one of these at home we keep for sentimental reasons..
as well as one of these 🤓
If I was operating a dental corporate, this type of software is a no brainer for the same reasons, similarly public health.
Issues for larger players will always be security of information and both these companies seem to be addressing this issue.
Other uses could be in practice purchase in reporting on disease levels in the patient base, identifying untreated work such as periapical lesions or endo treated teeth not protected appropriately. Maybe having short term access licences for this purpose?
The big one for public health or large institutions is research, and mapping disease over time in order to develop and locate services.
As I mentioned in my previous newsletter, software such as this helps in building trust with patients. So the benefit to a practice may justify spending the money on this rather than a marketing agency.
The only regret I have in selling my practice is I don't get to play with this technology.
Have a great week, please share with a friend
Rosie
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