The diversity of artificial intelligence in dentistry: Toward more sustainability?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming policy, research, education, and the practice of dentistry through advances in diagnostics, treatment planning, education, and administration. Despite its clear potential in service delivery and care and transdisciplinary collaboration, the adoption of AI remains fragmented and uneven. The landscape of AI applications in dentistry spans diverse users, tasks, and contexts and presents challenges as well as opportunities for sustainable integration.

Moving beyond the typical focus on diagnostic accuracy, the authors investigated dental and medical studies, analyzing how AI can remain sustainable across the profession's fragmented and heterogeneous ecosystem.

Some key barriers, such as siloed innovation, ethical uncertainty, and unequal infrastructure, are identified and suggest the need for cohesive engagement across stakeholder groups and collective actions, development of curriculum and ethical frameworks, and regulatory initiatives.

The authors outline strategic steps to leverage the profession's diversity as a driver of sustainability.