Odontoiatria digitale: aspetti clinici, etici e medico-legali nell’utilizzo delle nuove tecnologie

Abstract

OBJECTIVES The digital approach has revolution ized the dental sector, offering new diagnostic and therapeutic possibili ties, but it has also raised new deon tological, bioethical, and medico-le gal issues. The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between digital technology and clinical dental practice, highlighting the new impli cations that have emerged with dig ital approaches, particularly in rela tion to the use of intraoral scanners and artificial intelligence. The dis cussion includes the new responsi bilities of professionals in managing patients’ sensitive data, obtaining adequate informed consent for digi tal procedures, and ensuring and improving the quality of care. Chal lenges related to transparency and interpretability of data are examined to ensure safe and ethically respon sible dental practice, emphasizing the concept that modifying proaches to the medical profession does not mean altering its funda mental values. MATERIALS AND METHODS A literature review was conducted using textbooks and articles from four digital databases: Research Gate, PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar. Additionally, for the purpose of drafting this article, the recent Legislative Resolution of the Europe an Parliament on Artificial Intelli gence dated March 13, 2024, was reviewed. Only articles published from 2014 onwards were consid ered relevant. Three operators ana lyzed and selected the extracted ar ticles. Short communications, letters to the editors, and articles published before 2014 were excluded. DISCUSSION The adoption of digital technolo gies in dentistry has led to numerous advantages, including in creased accuracy and precision in clinical procedures, improved workflow efficiency, and more ef fective communication between dentists and patients. However, the implementation of these technolo gies also entails ethical and medi co-legal challenges, such as the need to ensure patient data securi ty and compliance with current regulations. Furthermore, it is cru cial to consider the economic im pact of new technologies and the need for continuous training for professionals in the field. CONCLUSIONS Digital dentistry represents a sig nificant advancement in dentistry, improving the quality of care and patient experience. Despite the challenges associated with inte grating new technologies, the benefits in terms of precision, effi ciency, and communication are evident. It is essential to address ethical and medico-legal issues to ensure the responsible and safe use of these innovations, while promoting ongoing professional development to maximize the ad vantages offered by technological innovations in dentistry. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE In digital dentistry, it is essential to adopt rigorous clinical, ethical, and medico-legal protocols, in or der to ensure the security of sen sitive data, the correct use of digi tal technologies and transparency towards patients.