Top Dental School Receives ADEA Grant to Use Pearl’s AI Platform to Improve Radiologic Education and Clinical Performance for High-Quality, Consistent Patient Care

 

Artificial intelligence continues to make deeper and deeper inroads into dentistry.  More and more offices are embracing this change to help with diagnosis.  As we do, the entire process of how the profession analyzes radiographs is changing.

I worked alone in a solo practice for about 18 years before bringing in another doctor.  Looking back, I wish I would have made that decision much earlier.  One of the immediate benefits was being able to look a an x-ray and ask another set of trained eyes the question "do you see any pathology on this image?"  Having another set of eyes on target is a remarkable benefit.  

I started working with some dental AI startups back in 2015 (I can't believe it was *ten* years ago) and I immediately saw the benefit.  Even though the interface back then was clunky and required a lot of work on my end to get the images loaded into the AI platform, I was hooked.  AI doesn't diagnose, it gives the doctor a gentle nudge to say "did you look really closely here?"  Because of those gentle nudges, doctors are making better decisions.

Now the UCLA School of Dentistry is bringing Pearl into their clinic.  That means that dental students are going to get exposure to how to practice as the profession evolves.  I'm proud and excited by this decision.  Young doctors are often flooded by new things as soon as the graduate.  In my opinion, our dental schools turn out terrific clinicians, but those students only get limited time with 'state of the art' technologies simply because of the time involved to learn them and the costs to the schools to provide them.  By incorporating AI into their training UCLA is giving these young doctors a great foundation to build on.  Read on for all the details...

Pearl, the global leader in dental AI solutions, today announced that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Dentistry has been awarded a grant from the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) to integrate Pearl Calibrate, the first AI-powered clinical calibration tool, into its educational and research programs. The grant-powered collaboration will enable faculty, residents, and students to incorporate advanced AI technology into their curriculum and in preparation for clinical work. Insights garnered from the implementation are expected later this year. The integration of Calibrate into dental training infrastructure marks a pivotal moment in dental education, highlighting a collective commitment to adopting innovative solutions that enhance both teaching and patient care.

“It is terrific to see UCLA taking a leading role in the AI-driven advancement of dental education,” said Ophir Tanz, founder and CEO of Pearl. “The ADEA grant empowers faculty and students with a tool designed specifically to foster consistency and higher standards in radiologic diagnosis –– and underscores AI’s increasingly vital influence on dentistry today. In collaboration with UCLA, we are making significant strides toward a dental future where AI and human talent blend to elevate care and foster better outcomes for patients.”

“At UCLA, we are committed to embracing innovation that safely and securely advances our field,” said Dr. Paul H. Krebsbach, Dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry. “Implementing this new technology aligns with our strategic imperative to leverage best-in-class digital architecture and to prepare our students to lead in the evolving landscape of dental care. I commend Dr. Sanjay Mallya, chair of our Section of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, for leading this initiative.”

Calibrate is a multi-purpose tool that helps a broad range of users hone their dental x-ray evaluation skills and overcome subjectivity endemic to diagnostic radiology. Calibrate helps ensure consistency across clinical professionals operating within dental industry organizations including universities, single- and multi-site clinics, radiology centers, and insurance companies. Offering an extensive internal image library, as well as the ability to upload image datasets, Calibrate allows administrators to prescribe interpretive standards and customize benchmarks tailored to their organizations’ unique clinical specifications.

About Pearl

Pearl is an AI-driven company committed to enhancing patient care in dentistry. Founded in 2019 by a team with decades of experience developing successful, enterprise-grade computer vision solutions, Pearl introduced the first-ever FDA-cleared AI capable of reading and instantly identifying diseases in dental x-rays. With regulatory clearance in 120 countries, Pearl's AI assists dentists in making precise clinical decisions and effectively communicating with patients, thereby transforming the dental care experience worldwide. As dentistry’s global AI leader, Pearl is committed to the ongoing innovation of robust, accessible AI tools that improve patient health outcomes and build greater trust in dental medicine. To request a demo, please visit hellopearl.com/getdemo