Digital integration for better dental care and education

The new site of the Shanghai Stomatology Hospital will be put into use in July 2023, when it will become the city's largest dental facility.

It will further meet people's demands, enhance medical research and introduce high-tech into clinical practice, hospital officials told a medical forum in the city on Sunday.

Experts and industry insiders gathered to discuss the digital implication such as artificial intelligence for dental care.

According to Dr Liu Yuehua, president of the hospital, digital technology has brought deep reform of management and service such as intraoral scanning, 3D printing, digital diagnosis and production.

"The development of AI technology pushes the innovation of disease forecast, diagnosis and treatment," said Liu.

"In oral and maxillofacial surgery, AI is able to forecast the possibility of survival, relapse and metastasis in cyst, cancer and lymphatic metastasis and then offer surgical instruction.

"AI can assist doctors on more effective and precise diagnosis, more minimally-invasive surgery and better after-surgery rehabilitation through analyzing large numbers of imaging pictures and data."

In addition, the large data is also integrated into medical education. The virtual simulation has been largely introduced into medical student training for a low-cost, high-quality and regular education.

"The system can find each student's weak point and give targeting direction," Liu said.