The field of artificial intelligence (AI) has leaped from the realm of speculative fiction and academic research into the mainstream, reshaping both professional and consumer markets. AI-powered tools have evolved far beyond simple spell-checkers and grammar analyzers like Grammarly; today, they empower professionals to analyze hundred-page documents, generate sophisticated visuals, and create compelling reports—all in a fraction of the time it would traditionally take with an entire team. In dentistry, AI advancements are enabling practices to not only handle administrative tasks, but also reshape patient engagement and relationship management.
A number of advancements have made this possible. Automatic speech recognition (ASR) transcribes spoken words in real time, while natural language processing (NLP) allows AI to interpret and respond to patient conversations, extracting insights from communication. Predictive analytics and machine learning forecast patient needs. Summarization condenses complex data into concise notes. Generative AI enables personalized, automated responses. Combined with application programming interfaces (API) integrations for seamless data exchange with the practice management system (PMS), these tools are helping dental practices create more personalized, proactive care experiences.
While AI is an invaluable tool, dentists remain the cornerstone of patient care. Their diagnostic expertise, treatment planning, and skilled patient interactions are irreplaceable. AI enhances these strengths by analyzing data patterns, monitoring patient follow-up needs, and enabling practices to communicate with patients more efficiently; empowering dentists to focus on high-value tasks to deliver top-tier, personalized care. This article will examine the use of AI tools to enhance patient compliance, experience, and care by using the tools that AI brings to move from single interactions to a holistic, proactive engagement model.
Enhancing patient conversations
Patient engagement is essential in dentistry. Patients who feel connected to their healthcare providers are more likely to comply with care recommendations and prioritize oral health. They are less likely to cancel or no-show an appointment. This is better both for the patient’s care and the practice’s bottom line.
A significant amount of engagement happens over the phone. ASR transcribes these conversations in real time, while NLP analyzes the transcripts. Machine learning models extract data from this conversation providing staff with actionable insights—identifying who is calling, why they’re calling, and capturing sentiment throughout the conversation. This provides staff with a wealth of information to tailor their approach to each patient’s specific needs and preferences.
Caring for patient needs across conversations
AI’s value grows immensely when it moves beyond a single interaction to analyze patterns across multiple conversations. At Peerlogic, we’ve found that it takes an average of 2.5 phone conversations to achieve care resolution. Persisting this information across conversations is therefore essential to create a seamless audit trail and to maintain a high standard of patient experience. One where the patient doesn’t feel like they’re repeating themselves or being treated like a stranger.
Summarization technology plays a vital role here by distilling complex, multi-topic, non-linear conversations into concise notes, ensuring that any staff member who takes over can quickly understand the core issues without the time sink of reviewing lengthy recordings. A detailed call about post-surgical concerns can be summarized to highlight key points and previously discussed recommendations—saving time and improving responsiveness.
A common occurrence is that patients need to book an appointment, but either they or the practice needs to do something out-of-band to make that happen. This can be the caregiver’s need to consult a spouse about their calendar or the practice may need to perform preauthorization with the insurance provider. AI can extract these data and make it available in the patient notes and call history during follow-up interactions.
AI can go deeper by tracking recurring themes in a patient’s activity, such as frequent rescheduling or repeated questions about procedures allowing it to identify underlying concerns that might otherwise go unnoticed. If a patient frequently reschedules, AI can flag this behavior and alert staff to alter their approach and offer solutions that address the root of the patient’s dental hesitancy gleaned from subtle clues in the patient’s words.
Building a longitudinal patient record
The true potential of AI in dentistry lies in its ability to create a comprehensive, longitudinal patient record. Through API integrations and data aggregation, AI combines conversational data with clinical treatment plans, allowing practices to build a holistic profile for each patient. This longitudinal view includes appointment histories, health records, and billing details combined with insights from past interactions (voicemails, phone calls, and SMS), giving a full picture of the patient’s journey.
Moving beyond standard templates
With a comprehensive patient profile in place, AI enables dental practices to go beyond standard appointment reminders and deliver truly personalized engagement. Predictive analytics and generative AI work together to craft patient-specific messages that reflect the patient’s history, allowing practices to anticipate patient requirements rather than reacting to them.
A patient who frequently misses cleanings might receive a customized message explaining the specific health benefits of preventive care, reinforcing the importance of staying on track. Analysis of message timing to show rate allows AI to determine when to send the message to achieve the best outcome. It could be to send a reminder a week before an appointment, two days before, or some combination based on the patient’s communication history.
Going beyond appointment reminders, there is a vast, virtually untapped reservoir of unscheduled treatment that relies upon the patient or staff to be proactive about reviewing. AI and automation can assist in tackling this problem. Patient demographics and predictive analysis can further refine the outreach messages. A patient with gum disease in a certain demographic may respond more favorably to a message about its heart disease implications. In contrast, another may respond more to aesthetic concerns or its association with dementia.
Guiding patients to care at scale
Computational technologies' great benefit is their scalability. We can combine automation with AI to guide patients to the care they need on a large scale without sacrificing personalization. This outreach can take various forms—SMS, email, or phone conversations with an AI voice assistant.
This guidance can be with suggestions that staff follow or it can perform this outreach automatically via SMS and email. Speech-to-text technologies have improved to the point where these can be interactive phone calls. An AI-powered assistant can answer patient questions in real-time, offering voice responses and escalating to a human staff member if necessary. This allows practices to engage with patients across multiple channels, reaching out to patients in the modality to which they are most responsive.
Automating outreach across a broad patient base allows practices to deliver high-touch care consistently and efficiently, enhancing patient compliance and satisfaction without overloading staff. This level of scalable personalization is transformative, making proactive care accessible to a wider patient population that might otherwise go underserved.
Tech to elevate patient care
The role of AI in dentistry is not about technologies to get the job done quicker—it is about elevating patient care by enhancing relationships and bringing care to a practice’s entire patient population. By synthesizing conversational and clinical data, AI enables dental practices to provide a holistic approach, guiding each patient toward better health outcomes. The future of dentistry is a collaborative one, with AI offering insights that allow dentists to connect more personally with patients. As AI tools continue to develop, the partnership between AI and dentists will deepen, ensuring that patients feel valued, supported, and empowered throughout their oral health journey.
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in DE Weekend, the newsletter that will elevate your Sunday mornings with practical and innovative practice management and clinical content from experts across the field. Subscribe here.
