Can Artificial Intelligence Substitute Dental Public Health Expertise? A Competency-Based Analysis Across Core DPH...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Dental Public Health
• Artificial Intelligence

Background:

• Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in public health and dentistry.
• Questions arise about AI's ability to replace Dental Public Health (DPH) expertise.
• This study differentiates between AI-amenable and human-centric DPH competencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To distinguish between AI-amenable and fundamentally human Dental Public Health (DPH) competencies.
• To analyze the impact of AI on the 10 core DPH specialty competencies.
• To inform the integration of AI into DPH practice and workforce development.

Main Methods:

• An analytical framework was applied to the 10 DPH specialty competencies.
• Current AI applications in health literature were mapped to DPH competencies.
• Competencies were categorized based on AI's technical capacity and human requirements.

Main Results:

• AI shows strong technical capabilities in data-intensive DPH areas like program management, surveillance, and research.
• These AI-amenable competencies are classified as augmentable, enhancing efficiency with human oversight.
• Ethical decision-making, communication, leadership, and policy advocacy are irreplaceable human DPH competencies.

Conclusions:

• AI serves as a valuable complementary tool in DPH, not a replacement for specialists.
• Human DPH specialists are indispensable for governance, equity, and strategic decision-making.
• Future DPH frameworks must define AI's role while emphasizing human judgment and ethical leadership.