Artificial intelligence applications in smile design dentistry: A scoping review

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications are growing in smile design and aesthetic procedures. The current expansion and performance of AI models in digital smile design applications have not yet been systematically documented and analyzed. The purpose of this review was to assess the performance of AI models in smile design, assess the criteria of points of reference using AI analysis, and assess different AI software performance.

An electronic review was completed in five databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, World of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus. Studies that developed AI models for smile design were included. The search strategy included articles published until November 1, 2024. Two investigators independently evaluated the quality of the studies by applying the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist for Quasi-Experimental Studies and Textual Evidence: Expert Opinion Results.

The search resulted in 2653 articles. A total of 2649 were excluded according to the exclusion criteria after reading the title, abstract, and/or full-text review. Four articles published between 2023 and 2024 were included in the present investigation. Two articles compared 2D and 3D points while one article compared the outcome of satisfaction between dentists and patients, and the last article emphasized the ethical components of using AI.

The results of the studies reviewed in this paper suggest that AI-generated smile designs are not significantly different from manually created designs in terms of esthetic perception. 3D designs are more accurate than 2D designs and offer more advantages. More articles are needed in the field of AI and smile design.