AI-assisted dental radiograph workflow: findings the dentist reviews

Upload and viewing

Radiographs, photographs and DICOM files are added to a patient's imaging study. The viewer opens ordinary images and DICOM files, including multi-frame DICOM, and a study with several DICOM slices can be viewed as a CBCT volume. A study is recorded as one of: periapical, bitewing, panoramic, cephalometric, CBCT slice, photograph or other.

Checks before a file is stored

• The kind of file (JPEG, PNG, WebP or DICOM) is decided from its content, not from its name; a damaged, empty or oversized file is refused with a reason.
• For a DICOM file, the identity written inside it is compared with the patient of the study. If it does not match, the dentist is warned and nothing is saved unless they confirm. The patient's own record is never overwritten from the file.
• The original file is stored unchanged. Very large single files, such as a whole CBCT in one file, may exceed what a browser upload can carry; try the clinic's own files during the trial.

Viewer tools and measurements

The viewer zooms, rotates in quarter turns, changes brightness and contrast, inverts the image, shows it at actual pixels and has keyboard shortcuts. These change only how the image is displayed; the stored radiograph is never altered.

A measurement in millimetres is shown only when the file carries a scale (a DICOM with pixel spacing, or a calibration the dentist set); on an ordinary image the length is not given in millimetres.

The AI boxes and the dentist's own marks are two layers that can be shown or hidden separately, and a box stays on its finding at every zoom and rotation.

What the AI analysis shows

The analysis returns a list of findings, each marked on the image. For every finding the dentist can see:

• the tooth number in FDI, where the tooth can be determined — when it cannot, the dentist sets it;
• the kind of finding, and where relevant the surface, the depth class or a bone-loss percentage;
• a confidence level with a percentage — the model's own estimate for that finding, not a measured accuracy — and flags such as “seen on zoom” or “second reader doubtful”;
• the radiographic sign the finding rests on, and what could make it a false positive.

The dentist decides

• Each finding can be accepted, rejected or edited (tooth number, text, a note), and a decision can be undone.
• The AI never writes to the chart by itself.
• Only an accepted finding can be added to the tooth chart, as planned work marked as coming from the AI analysis, or to a draft treatment plan.
• A draft plan is for the clinician to review: prices and sequence are decided by the clinic before anything is proposed to the patient.

What the AI does not do

• AI assists the dentist and does not replace professional diagnosis or treatment decisions.
• It does not diagnose and does not decide treatment. The dentist remains responsible for diagnosis and treatment decisions.
• It can be wrong in both directions — missing a finding or showing one that is not there — which is why each finding is shown with its confidence and has to be accepted by a person.
• It does not replace the clinical examination, or a specialist's reading when one is needed.
• This page gives no accuracy or sensitivity figures; none are claimed.

The dentist's report: write, sign, correct

The dentist writes the reading in their own words, with or without the AI. When it is finalized, the report is saved as version 1 together with a snapshot of the findings the dentist had confirmed at that moment, and who signed it and when. Only the clinic owner or a dentist can sign.

A finalized report is not overwritten. A correction is an amendment: a new version with a written reason, and every earlier version stays readable. The printed report comes from the signed version, so a later change to the findings does not alter what was signed.

Comparing two images

Two images of the same patient can be compared over time. The comparison describes what looks different in neutral words and leaves the conclusion to the dentist; it does not say that a lesion has grown or healed.

Allowance

Clinic plans include a monthly allowance of free AI analyses; the number depends on the plan and is listed on the pricing page. A clinic that needs more can buy an AI package.