Balancing Technology and Trust: Ethical Framework for Digital Transformation in Dentistry
Weam Ahmed Mohammad Mari, Mehvish Siddique, Pooja SharmaAbstract
Background:
Artificial intelligence (AI) services have improved the provision of care in the dental field. However, new ethical, legal, and regulatory concerns are now present with the introduction of these new services into practice. For example, services which have been created using AI have provided improvements in delivery of clinical service, along with increased access to dental services to those seeking care. Further, AI services have raised concerns about the confidentiality of patient data and security of information, transparency, automated decision making, informed consent, liability (professional liability), regulatory oversight, and access to AI services (equitable access).
Objective:
The objective of this study is to systematically review, and report on, the clinical uses of AI and digital technology in dentistry and evaluate ethical, legal, and governance issues associated with the use of these technologies to discover possible gaps within current standards/guidelines and develop evidence/research-based recommendations for the responsible use of AI and digital technologies in dentistry.
Methodology:
This literature search followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) as outlined in the PRISMA. Search included e-databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar from peer-reviewed articles that were published between 2015 and 2026. These articles had to meet certain criteria for AI application, digital workflow, teledentistry, etc., but technical articles without ethical and/or policy discussion would be excluded from this literature review. The PRISMA flow chart details the selection process.
Results:
The systematic literature review identified that although technology based on AI within the dental profession will improve the accuracy of diagnostic evaluations and the overall efficiency of dental practice, there are still ethical concerns with the use of technology that have been raised in the existing literature, such as issues related to the privacy of health data, cybersecurity, liability, informed consent, and gaps in regulation.
Conclusion:
Effective and ethical integration of AI into the field will likely involve establishing a system of governance and regulation that provides a secure infrastructure for AI, as well as ongoing education to current practitioners on the safe and equitable use of AI.