New Delhi: A stakeholders meeting was held at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into dental education.
According to the World Health Organization’s Global Oral Health Status Report, oral diseases affect 3.5 billion individuals globally. To tackle this case load, academic experts believe AI can play a vital role by enhancing diagnostic accuracy, treatment planning, and patient care in dentistry.
The project is a collaborative effort involving the Institute of Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences (MAIDS), and GGSIPU, funded by UKIERI and SPARC.
It aims to develop an educational module for dental students and its implications. The lead investigators are Prof. Manu Raj Mathur and Dr. Anil Golkari from QMUL; Prof. Mahesh Verma, Vice Chancellor of GGSIPU; and Prof. Vikrant Mohanty from MAIDS.
In his welcome address, Prof. Mahesh Verma highlighted that the project, “Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Dental Education: Addressing a critical global oral health challenge through transformative capacity building,” was the only competitive award in healthcare research granted by a consortium of leading academic institutions from the UK and India.
He said, “The initiative will be a path-breaking project, paving the way for the integration of Artificial Intelligence following appropriate ethical standards in dental education.”
Dr. Vartika Kathuria Monga, Project Coordinator, shared an overview of the project. Prof. Vikrant Mohanty discussed the “Current landscape and scope of AI in Indian dental education,” noting that around 317 dental colleges are functional, with 28,000 graduates, 8,000 postgraduate seats, 15,000 faculty members, and 3.7 lakh dentists rendering their services across India.
Dr. Ali Golkari spoke on “Recent advances in AI: An overview of QMUL projects,” emphasizing the need for haptics in dental education. Prof. Manu Raj Mathur outlined the project’s milestones and noted that out of 57 applicants, only one project focused on health, specifically oral health, was awarded.
The deliberations aim to develop a project outline with a timeline. Senior academic IT experts from GGSIPU were also present on the occasion.
