The secret of a perfect smile: artificial intelligence vs manual design

Abstract

Introduction: Smile design is an emerging area of dentistry, that has gained significant popularity in the field of aesthetic
dentistry today. In addition to the initial methods based on manual facial aesthetic evaluation, new software solutions
have been introduced, incorporating artificial intelligence to shorten and simplify the smile design process.
Objective: The aim of this thesis was to compare the aesthetic outcomes of “manual” smile designs based on facial
aesthetic evaluations, with the ones created by using artificial intelligence-assisted tools.
Materials and Methods: In our study, smile designs were created for ten volunteer patients by four dental students.
First step was the documentation according to the DSD (Digital Smile Design) protocol following by the evaluation of
facial aesthetic parameters using the 10-step DSD “smile frame” protocol. After the evaluation, manual smile designs
were created using the Trios Smile Design software, while artificial intelligence-assisted designs were generated with
the SmileFy software.
20 dentists (including 5 prosthodontists, 5 dento-alveolar surgeons, 5 orthodontists and 5 specialists in conservative
dentistry and prosthodontics), 20 dental students, and 20 laypeople were asked to select the smile design they found
more aesthetically pleasing and realistic for each patient.
Conclusion: Our results indicated that the manual method was more likely preferred. This highlights the fact, while
artificial intelligence significantly facilitates and accelerates the design process, it has not yet reached a level of sophistication
capable of entirely replacing the manual design process, which is based on individual and subjective parameters,
but with further refinements, it could bring significant innovations to the field of aesthetic dentistry in the future.