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Research Outline

Prepared for Joan G. | Delivered June 3, 2020

Artificial Intelligence Dental Image Reading Market Analysis

Goals

The objective of the research is to assess the viability and vitality of providing a SaaS platform. The platform incorporates some form of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which assist dentists and radiologists with reading medical images, such as X-rays. Three specific goals are the identification of current technology/research development stages, the development stages of the commercialization of the AI-based software or SaaS, and market competitive landscape.

Early Findings

  • In 2018, AI technologies, such as machine learning, have started their applications in the clinical side of dentistry. Some dentists have started to trial some of the early products at dental clinics. By 2020, it is expected to see the noticeable adoption of AI-powered products, assisting dentists with diagnosis and treatment planning.
  • It was estimated that the rate of misdiagnosis of caries from reading X-rays was more than 20% in 2018. An experimental study conducted between 2017 and 2018 showed that the AI technologies have been able to identify more healthcare issues, such as caries than human dentists, and the accuracy was close to dentists. Recent research on the performance comparison between AI and health professionals in reading medical images are also publicly available.
  • Due to the laborious work and high misdiagnosis rate at dentistry, it is expected to see a surge in the demand for AI in dentistry's clinical work, such as reading and analyzing X-rays, cone beam, and computer tomography images. The application of AI in healthcare is expected to grow by 10 times between 2019 and 2023 and AI in analyzing medical images is expected to be as prevalent as its application in practice management and imaging systems between 2028 and 2033.
  •  Research is ongoing in the space of improving AI accuracy in detecting healthcare issues. Current research has developed a model to locate the precise mandibular canals for a dental implant, which has found it be equally accurate as a dental specialist in most cases. The model is expected to integrate into the software run on image reading equipment.
  • It is expected to see more research and development in the space of implants, periodontics, peri-implantitis, and orthodontics. In 2019, research also developed the AI system for reading chest X-rays and identifying pneumonia and cancer.
  • Although AI emerged on the business side of dentistry, such as intelligent scheduling, in 2018, the commercialization of AI in the clinical side of dentistry is still in the early stage. Dentists and radiologists in clinics and hospitals have been the primary users of AI-powered clinical products and services.
  • Since 2018, some new start-up technology vendors have ventured into intelligent dental image reading products, such as VideaHealth and Pearl. Existing manufacturers of medical image reading equipment, such as Planmeca, have also started to incorporate AI technologies into the analytical software run on their devices.
  • Between 2018 and 2026, the global dental X-ray market is expected to grow by a CAGR of 8.2% from $1.99 billion to $3.70 billion. Driven by the X-ray market growth, the dental image reading software products and services are expected to see noticeable growth in the forecast period.