Hend Alqaderi, an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, is harnessing artificial intelligence to transform dental laboratories and patient care. Her journey began while studying saliva to predict diabetes risk and coronavirus severity, analyzing thousands of samples with hundreds of bacterial markers per patient. The sheer volume made manual analysis impractical.
A few years ago, Alqaderi discovered that machine learning, a branch of AI, could process massive datasets and generate disease predictions in minutes. Inspired, she took AI courses at MIT and now leads the Dental AI Lab, a joint initiative with the Tufts Institute for Artificial Intelligence (TIAI). The lab trains dental students to use AI through research projects and a new course, Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry.
“Dentists spend significant time on documentation, treatment planning, and administrative tasks,” Alqaderi says. “AI can free up that time, allowing them to focus on patient care and communication.” The lab’s AI models analyze electronic dental records to predict conditions such as cavities and oral cancer, much like recommendation algorithms used by Netflix, Google, or Amazon.
Currently, one project focuses on AI systems that read X-rays and flag potential concerns for dentists to verify, saving time and improving accuracy. While the lab’s primary mission is research and academic publication, Alqaderi envisions translating these tools into everyday dental laboratory software integrated with clinical systems.
The AI curriculum at Tufts emphasizes collaboration between dental students and data scientists. In the new course, 240 third-year students learned AI fundamentals, ethics, and applications in treatment planning, particularly for remote patient populations. Students also evaluate existing dental AI tools and develop capstone projects with lab support.
Beyond research, AI’s role in dentistry is gaining attention through organizations like the Artificial Intelligence in Dental Research & Education Society, founded by Tufts dental student Yash Brahmbhatt. The society promotes AI literacy among dental students and faculty and encourages new research initiatives.
“AI is not here to replace dentists,” Brahmbhatt emphasizes. “It augments our skills, helping improve diagnosis, treatment planning, and patient outcomes. Properly trained AI can even catch conditions that humans might miss due to fatigue or stress.”
As dental laboratories increasingly integrate AI into research, education, and clinical practice, Tufts is preparing the next generation of dentists to use these tools ethically and effectively.