Dr. Zaeem Jafri explains in detail why he believes clinical dentistry should not be a full-time job.
Clinical dentistry should not be a full-time job. In 2015, The Independent claimed that dentistry (and dental nursing) is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world:
- High exposure to contaminants
- High exposure to diseases and infections
- Prolonged time spent sitting (leading to chronic back pain and other health problems)
- A long time spent in an isolated and closed environment, with minimal contact with the outside and fresh air
- High rates of depression, adultery, and suicide
After 3 years in my career, I reduced my clinical work days to 3 days a week and I have not regretted it for a second. In addition to improving my own mental health and still providing me with a good income (no matter how much you complain, dentistry is a very well-paid profession), it gave me time to dedicate myself to my other passion, medical technology.
“The ”tech industry” is everything healthcare is not. Fast, bold, full of innovative entrepreneurs and start-ups pushing the boundaries of what is possible, heavily funded by cash-rich venture capitalists. £2.99 billion was invested in London start-ups in 2017. Thanks to technological advances, people these days want everything to be as convenient as possible. Netflix, Uber, Deliveroo, Deliveroo, Zip car, Monzo are just some of the fast-growing companies that have dramatically made our lives easier.
Revolutionizing an industry
Now, for obvious reasons, healthcare can’t follow the same model as the companies above, let’s see what can go wrong: “Tharanos”, a company that tried to revolutionize the blood testing industry, collapsed after being valued at £10 billion. In addition to the commercial failures, the company faced multiple lawsuits for distributing false results and promoting unproven testing measures, which led to fake blood tests being performed on several customers, all in the interest of the company's growth.
When it comes to consumer health, a bad product doesn't just mean a phone that overheats or a cold meal that's delivered too late, but also people making health choices based on false information, which can have fatal consequences.
“An AI doctor/dentist would mean you could get personalized medical advice 24/7, no matter where you are.”
To ensure we don't leave university causing chaos and disaster, higher education and hospitals (rightly so) spend an insane amount of time making sure we are safe. We are not prepared to be clinical leaders, innovators, high-quality physicians.
GDC's 5-year roadmap results in an influx of "safe starters"“, learn to always do the safest thing, the least invasive, and with an aversion to risk. Under-promise, highlight all possible risks, and avoid complaints and litigation. These characteristics are almost completely opposite to what is required to be a good entrepreneur or innovator. It is a shame that undergraduate dental programs do not cater to students who want to follow this path in dentistry. Although we must graduate as confident practitioners, many of us want to do more than clinical dentistry and are left to develop the skills necessary to innovate on our own.
The world we live in is very different from what it was “back in the day”. People don’t like to put their full trust in professionals anymore, and people do their shopping. Everything is very easy and convenient for us. The companies I mentioned earlier challenged the draconian systems of the past and the same can be applied to dentistry. Nowadays, people want instant results, have access to a vast amount of information, and are much more aware of their personal health than ever before.
Vitality GP
A few weeks ago, I went to my GP. She referred me to an ENT consultant, prescribed a nasal spray and gave me some self-care advice, the process took about 30 minutes and I did it all while sitting in my dental chair at lunchtime, on my iPhone. Now, telehealth is pretty simple and is basically a sophisticated video chat, but Babylon Health has taken the concept a step further. It started out as a chatbot designed to listen to symptoms and offer health advice, and has now launched its service called GP at Hand, which is available on the NHS if you live in London.
Babylon's main goal is to build an artificial intelligence doctor to help patients with routine medical care. in the most convenient way possible.
Can you imagine how much time it would save if you could present your symptoms to Alexa, who could guide you to the most reliable information or even diagnose you with a certain illness? Or if a mother, worried about her first child’s “extra teeth” growing behind their front baby teeth, wouldn’t have to take time off work, pick up her child from school, and worry for 2 weeks to visit a dentist who simply takes a 5-second look to tell her that this is completely normal?
Babylon has raised £85m to build its systems. They remove the laborious task of finding an appointment that suits you, physically taking time off work to go to your GP and then to a pharmacy. By having an AI doctor/dentist, you could receive personalized medical advice 24/7, no matter where you are. At this time, their app does not offer dental advice.
The innovators
A Florida company called Neocis has developed a robot that assists dentists in placing implants. Using data from CBCT and IO scans, “Yomi” helps the dentist ensure they are in the correct operating position for implant placement, providing resistance if the dentist strays from course. This is the first FDA-approved implant robot. Think of it as a power steering aid for implantologists. Yomi still allows the human operator to have overall control of the procedure, but in China there has already been a fully automated placement of dental implants, with the simple supervision of trained dentists.
“"“There is great potential for any dentist interested in innovation to take advantage of the changing world we live in..".”
In America there is a company called Pearl AI, which has raised £11 million to develop software that automatically reads and assists dentists with X-rays. Will trying to read and interpret X-rays become a thing of the past for dentists? There are several other companies working on this task (Orca AI, Dent AI, to name a few).
The way some companies are
Invisalign is one of the most popular clear aligner systems in the world, but this company offers much more than just aligners. Align's technology is incredibly rich, and they also invest heavily in machine learning. Align tech has over 6 million cases currently, and with the growth if IO scanners and the launch of iTero, they collect an exceptional amount of data regarding patients' dentition. Due to the amount of data they collect, they are becoming increasingly effective in providing instant clinical checks that guide dentists in planning orthodontic treatment.
Currently, a clin-check takes a few days to perfect, but as systems become more sophisticated and 3D printers become cheaper and faster, will we be working in an era where a patient can come in for a check-up in the morning and leave the same day wearing their aligners? In the same way that Babylon developed an AI doctor, Will Invisalign finally launch an instant orthodontist who has all the textbook knowledge of orthodontics combined with the experience of 10 million previous cases? Or, dare I say it, will direct-to-consumer orthodontics (Straight Teeth Direct) be the future?
Additionally, a French company called Dental Monitoring has developed a home monitoring system so that patients can co-monitor the alignment process. By using their own smartphones connected to a device, Patients can scan their teeth while wearing the aligners to check for any problems related to the orthodontic treatment provided.
So, what's next?
Research by the Mayo Clinic has shown that physician burnout isn’t just a consequence of long work hours. Their research has shown that healthcare professionals who spend a greater proportion of their time in front of a computer than in front of patients suffer from high rates of burnout. Kiroku (the company I gave up two days of clinical dentistry for) is developing technology that will completely automate clinical recordkeeping and clinical administration for dentists. Using the audio of a conversation between a dentist and a patient, Kiroku will be able to extract relevant discussions, translate them into dental terminology, and enter this information into patient records. By automating administrative processes, Dentists will be able to spend less time in front of the computer at work and more time doing what they came into the game to do, treating patients.
Final thoughts
I hope you found this article an interesting read, something to give you a break from reading about composite polishing, sexy rubber dams, and Instagram marketing. The field of artificial intelligence and health technology is massive, even within dentistry alone. There is great potential for any dentist interested in innovation to capitalize on the changing world we live in., to create new products, services that adapt to the needs of the future population. By the time today’s young dentists reach the peak of their careers, “Generation Alpha” will be one of the largest consumer groups that will come to visit us. Google them, check out the traits of a Generation Alpha consumer and think about the leap the dental industry needs to make to meet their needs and think about what you can do now to be ahead of the curve.
Source: enlightensmiles.com
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