The role of neural artificial intelligence for diagnosis and treatment planning in endodontics: A qualitative review

INTRODUCTION: The role of artificial intelligence (AI) is currently increasing in terms of diagnosing diseases and planning treatment in endodontics. However, findings from individual research studies are not systematically reviewed and compiled together. Hence, this study aimed to systematically review, appraise, and evaluate neural AI algorithms employed and their comparative efficacy to conventional methods in endodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. METHODS: The present research question focused on the literature search about different AI algorithms and models of AI assisted endodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. The search engine included databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct with search criteria of primary research paper, published in English, and analyzed data on AI and its role in the field of endodontics. RESULTS: The initial search resulted in 785 articles, exclusion based on abstract relevance, animal studies, grey literature and letter to editors narrowed down the scope of selected articles to 11 accepted for review. The review data supported the findings that AI can play a crucial role in the area of endodontics, such as identification of apical lesions, classifying and numbering teeth, detecting dental caries, periodontitis and periapical disease, diagnosing different dental problems, helping dentists make referrals, and also helping them make plans for treatment of dental disorders in a timely and effective manner with greater accuracy. CONCLUSION: AI with different models or frameworks and algorithms can help dentists to diagnose and manage endodontic problems with greater accuracy. However, endodontic fraternity needs to provide more emphasis on the utilization of AI, provision of evidence based guidelines and implementation of the AI models.