CV

Reinhilde Jacobs is dentist, Doctor in Dental Sciences (PhD University of Leuven), periodontologist (KU Leuven) and Master in Dental Radiology (University of London). She is full professor at the University of Leuven and visiting professor at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden and the Dalian Medical University in China. R. Jacobs is heading the omfsimpath research group of the KU Leuven (omfsimpath.be) and the clinical center of dentomaxillofacial radiology (UZleuven). She is Secretary General of the International Association of DentoMaxilloFacial Radiology and President-elect of the Digital Dentistry Society. She is section editor of 4 journals (Clin Oral Invest, Int J Oral Impl, Eur J Radiol, Oral Radiol). In 2013, she received a Dr Honoris Causa at the "Iuliu Hatieganu" Univ Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca. She is involved in many multidisciplinary and interuniversity research collaborations, focussed on imaging, AI and bioprinting.

Can AI become an Artist in Scanning & Planning?

Digitalisation in oral healthcare goes hand in hand with dentomaxillofacial imaging. During the last decade, 3D imaging has started to play a dominant role in daily practice, not only in relation to radiologic diagnosis, yet and surely also in relation to treatment planning. Yet and often, digitalisation is also considered a burden, as it requires both time investment and know-how in advanced image analysis. A potential solution may be offered by introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), that has the potential to revolutionize healthcare and present some solutions for time efficient, accurate and consistent clinical workflows, aiding education, diagnosis and treatment planning. The question remains whether AI can become an artist assisting scanning and planning to render virtual patient creation more efficient and accurate, with a better prediction of treatment outcome? Whatever answer may follow, AI will undoubtedly help to reshape future clinical practice.

Learning objectives

  • The first objective of the present lecture is to help understanding how digital 3D imaging can assist diagnosis and treatment planning in dental practice.
  • The second objective is to help understanding how artificial intelligence (AI) might be useful when dealing with 2D and 3D images in dental practice.
  • The third objective is to help understanding how AI might become a reliable dental assistant aiding the dental practitioner with potential decision-support and treatment support.