The state of AI in dentistry
In short Radiograph AI is now in routine use in UK dentistry, but mostly inside the corporate groups. mydentist and GenSmile rolled out Overjet and Pearl across their practices in 2026, and US groups have gone further. The products have moved beyond bitewing caries to panoramics, CBCT and image-quality checking. The biggest US clearances, though, are FDA decisions, and the independent evidence is still thin. A September 2026 meta-analysis pooled only three studies, and the GDC's own review found no UK studies at all. On the front desk, AI phone agents and scribes are multiplying faster than anyone is measuring them. The rules are being rewritten as all this happens. The MHRA has drawn a line around scribes, the government says it has accepted a national commission's 44 recommendations, and the GDC is redrafting what it expects of registrants.
What it found
- Large UK dental groups have moved radiograph AI from pilot to network-wide use: mydentist chose Overjet for its practices in February 2026 and GenSmile rolled Pearl out across 38 practices in June 2026.
- Vendors now cover more than bitewing caries, with FDA clearances for panoramic pathology, CBCT analysis and real-time image-quality checking, but these are US decisions, so UK buyers need to confirm each product's UK regulatory status and cleared functions themselves.
- Independent evidence of clinical benefit is still modest: a September 2026 meta-analysis put pooled AI sensitivity for proximal caries at 0.73 from only three studies, and the GDC's 2025 evidence review found no UK-based studies.
- Front-desk and documentation AI attracts the most new products and investment, but nearly all of its performance figures come from vendors, and recording patient calls has already led to litigation in the US.
- UK regulation is being reshaped rather than settled: the MHRA has said documentation-only scribes are not medical devices, and the government says it has accepted the National Commission's 44 recommendations, but no implementation timetable has been published.
- Professional accountability for AI use is unresolved: the GDC has pledged joint principles with other regulators, and indemnifiers are pressing it to spell out duties in its new professionalism framework.
How it was made
Every development in the report comes from a public source dated from August 2025 to October 2026: trade press, regulators, journals and company announcements. Each one is dated and names its source, so you can read the original, and every link was checked when this edition was put together. It is a record of what happened, not advice.
A new edition replaces this one as things move. The latest is always on this page.