ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence or AI may be identified as the use of Personal Computers and/or machines in performing certain specific types of tasks that usually have the requirement of humanized knowledge. These specific tasks include acknowledgment of the problem, understanding disease dynamics, and determining the clinical diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional and prospective study was conducted on Dental professionals who were practicing all across India after obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethical Board. A previously validated as well as pre-analyzed questionnaire form was distributed using electronic mail and through the use of social media with a briefly explained description of the study purpose and an informed consent form. The study questionnaire comprised "close-ended" queries that were then divided into foursections. All the study participants were then instructed to select any one option among all the provided answers. The entire study was completed within one month. Collected observations were entered within a Microsoft Excel 2007® master chart. Statistical analytical software tool SPSS version 20.0, IBM Corporation was employed. "Chi-square" test was performed for evaluating statistical association. A P value lesser than 0.05 was fixed with statistical significance. RESULTS: On analyzing the level of knowledge, 82.5% of subjects had knowledge of artificial intelligence while 11.4% had no knowledge and 6.1% had some knowledge of this tool. 69.1% were knowledgeable regarding the use of AI in lesional diagnosis, 12.8% had no knowledge regarding artificial intelligence for the diagnosis and 18.1% had no knowledge regarding AI in the diagnosis. 71% had knowledge concerning the use of AI for Imaging. Knowledge of AI in Oral Hygiene was seen in 54.3%. 91.2% of participants had knowledge of robotics use in Oral Surgery. 77% of dentists had knowledge regarding the use of AI for the enhancement of clinical practice. 95.5% had a higher 'positive' attitude toward the use of AI in academics. 69.1% of dentists had a positive attitude regarding AI incorporation in practice. 5% of dentists considered artificial intelligence better than human intelligence for diagnosis. 10% believed that disparities can exist between AI-based and human diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Positive correlations were noted between knowledge, attitude, and practice of AI among studied dentists.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Complete elimination of the pathogenic microorganisms from the gingival sulcus area is the ultimate goal of any periodontal therapy. Certain factors such as anatomical variation of teeth, deep periodontal pocket, and tissue-invading ability of some bacteria decrease the effectiveness of conventional nonsurgical periodontal therapy, i.e., scaling and root planing (SRP). Hence, antimicrobial agents could be used as an adjunct to SRP, in order to increase the efficacy of it. Although Chlorhexidine (CHX) is the gold standard as an antiplaque agent, it has several drawbacks. Recently, ozone therapy is being tried for the treatment of several diseases in the field of dentistry. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of local application of CHX and ozonated olive oil as adjunctive to SRP for the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Thirty individuals who fulfilled the eligibility criteria were selected for this split-mouth randomized controlled trial. The treatment sites from each individual were randomly allocated into two groups. Along with SRP, the local application of CHX and ozonated olive oil was done for the control and test sites, respectively. Pocket probing depth, relative attachment loss, and sulcus bleeding index were measured before and 3 months after the treatment. Intragroup and intergroup differences in the clinical parameters were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann-Whitney U test, respectively. Results: Three months' posttreatment, all the parameters showed significant improvement in both the groups. However, the intergroup comparison failed to be significant statistically. Conclusion: Ozonated olive oil could enhance the outcomes of SRP for the treatment of periodontal diseases.
