The fourth industrial revolution's impact on dentistry

Abstract

Introduction Even the greatest visionaries could not have guessed at what speed the profession and science of dentistry would accept the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In terms of its scale and complexity, this transformation has been greater than any known before and it has been described in the literature as Dentistry 4.0. The digital revolution in dentistry has allowed for nearly all clinical and laboratory procedures to be supported by digital technologies. The aim of this paper is to understand the role of Industry 4.0 in the profession of dentistry and identify its research status today and in the future. Methods An electronic search of Medline literature was performed via PubMed and Google Scholar databases with the terms “fourth industrial revolution,” “digital dentistry,” “dentistry 4.0,” “CAD-CAM.” The option “related articles” was also utilized as well as an additional manual search of review articles and the most relevant papers. Results The paper describes the most frequently used diagnostic and therapeutic procedures supported by digital technologies. Conclusion The sophisticated technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution have led to more rapid and precise diagnoses of oral diseases. Clinical procedures have become easier, more precise and predict-able to the dentist, and more comfortable to the patient. The long-term benefits also include financial savings and environmental protection.