Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Periodontal Disease From Intraoral Photographs: A Systematic Review

This systematic review aims to evaluate the methodological characteristics and clinical performance of artificial intelligence (AI) models in detecting periodontal disease using digital intraoral photographs. This review includes peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings in English, focu...

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Main Authors: Kaijing Mao, Khaing Myat Thu, Kuo Feng Hung, Ollie Yiru Yu, Richard Tai-Chiu Hsung, Walter Yu-Hang Lam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-10-01
Series:International Dental Journal
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020653925001728
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author Kaijing Mao
Khaing Myat Thu
Kuo Feng Hung
Ollie Yiru Yu
Richard Tai-Chiu Hsung
Walter Yu-Hang Lam
author_facet Kaijing Mao
Khaing Myat Thu
Kuo Feng Hung
Ollie Yiru Yu
Richard Tai-Chiu Hsung
Walter Yu-Hang Lam
author_sort Kaijing Mao
collection DOAJ
description This systematic review aims to evaluate the methodological characteristics and clinical performance of artificial intelligence (AI) models in detecting periodontal disease using digital intraoral photographs. This review includes peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings in English, focusing on clinical studies of human periodontal diseases. Intraoral photographs served as the primary data source, with fluorescent and microscopic dental images excluded. The methodological characteristics and performance metrics of clinical studies reporting on AI models were analysed. Twenty-six studies met the review criteria. Various image acquisition devices were used by the resarchers including professional cameras, intraoral cameras, smartphones, and home-use devices. Ten studies used clinical examinations as reference methods, while 16 used visual examinations. Eight studies involved multiple experts in dataset annotation. Only 9 studies employed multiple intraoral views for their AI models, with the remaining studies focusing solely on the frontal view. Regarding AI tasks, 17 studies used classification, 4 used detection, and 5 used segmentations. Performance metrics varied widely and were assessed at multiple levels. Classification studies showed accuracies ranging from 0.46 to 1.00, detection studies showed accuracies from 0.56 to 0.78, and segmentation studies achieved Intersection over Union (IoU) scores of 0.43 to 0.70. AI models show potential for detecting periodontal disease from intraoral photographs, but their clinical use faces challenges. Future research should focus on improving reporting standards, standardising evaluation metrics, performing external tests, enhancing data quality, and using clinical gold standards as reference methods. Furthermore, efforts should focus on promoting transparency, integrating ethical considerations, minimising misclassification, and advancing the development of explainable and user-friendly AI systems to enhance their clinical applicability and reliability.
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spelling doaj-art-f7722be83c0b4fc9b1528a474423e5092025-07-10T04:34:06ZengElsevierInternational Dental Journal0020-65392025-10-01755100883Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Periodontal Disease From Intraoral Photographs: A Systematic ReviewKaijing Mao0Khaing Myat Thu1Kuo Feng Hung2Ollie Yiru Yu3Richard Tai-Chiu Hsung4Walter Yu-Hang Lam5Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaFaculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaFaculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaFaculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaFaculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong Chu Hai College, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaFaculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Corresponding author. HKU Faculty of Dentistry, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong, China.This systematic review aims to evaluate the methodological characteristics and clinical performance of artificial intelligence (AI) models in detecting periodontal disease using digital intraoral photographs. This review includes peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings in English, focusing on clinical studies of human periodontal diseases. Intraoral photographs served as the primary data source, with fluorescent and microscopic dental images excluded. The methodological characteristics and performance metrics of clinical studies reporting on AI models were analysed. Twenty-six studies met the review criteria. Various image acquisition devices were used by the resarchers including professional cameras, intraoral cameras, smartphones, and home-use devices. Ten studies used clinical examinations as reference methods, while 16 used visual examinations. Eight studies involved multiple experts in dataset annotation. Only 9 studies employed multiple intraoral views for their AI models, with the remaining studies focusing solely on the frontal view. Regarding AI tasks, 17 studies used classification, 4 used detection, and 5 used segmentations. Performance metrics varied widely and were assessed at multiple levels. Classification studies showed accuracies ranging from 0.46 to 1.00, detection studies showed accuracies from 0.56 to 0.78, and segmentation studies achieved Intersection over Union (IoU) scores of 0.43 to 0.70. AI models show potential for detecting periodontal disease from intraoral photographs, but their clinical use faces challenges. Future research should focus on improving reporting standards, standardising evaluation metrics, performing external tests, enhancing data quality, and using clinical gold standards as reference methods. Furthermore, efforts should focus on promoting transparency, integrating ethical considerations, minimising misclassification, and advancing the development of explainable and user-friendly AI systems to enhance their clinical applicability and reliability.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020653925001728Artificial intelligenceMachine learningPeriodontal diseasePhotographGum diseaseGingivitis
spellingShingle Kaijing Mao
Khaing Myat Thu
Kuo Feng Hung
Ollie Yiru Yu
Richard Tai-Chiu Hsung
Walter Yu-Hang Lam
Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Periodontal Disease From Intraoral Photographs: A Systematic Review
International Dental Journal
Artificial intelligence
Machine learning
Periodontal disease
Photograph
Gum disease
Gingivitis
title Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Periodontal Disease From Intraoral Photographs: A Systematic Review
title_full Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Periodontal Disease From Intraoral Photographs: A Systematic Review
title_fullStr Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Periodontal Disease From Intraoral Photographs: A Systematic Review
title_full_unstemmed Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Periodontal Disease From Intraoral Photographs: A Systematic Review
title_short Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Periodontal Disease From Intraoral Photographs: A Systematic Review
title_sort artificial intelligence in detecting periodontal disease from intraoral photographs a systematic review
topic Artificial intelligence
Machine learning
Periodontal disease
Photograph
Gum disease
Gingivitis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020653925001728
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