Hacker News Reader

Comment by anonu | Hacker News Reader

I am pretty sure Ive had cavities taken care of that were not cavities. Ultimately its a small procedure and nets the dentist a few $100 bucks - and the patient can't be bothered to get a 2nd opinion.

Maybe this is where AI helps with analysis of x-rays. Is there really an urgent issue? Or can it wait?

View on HN

I'm unclear on who is using AI in this scenario. Are you going to use your own AI on your X-rays, or expect that the dentist will use a new tool to tell them to not do the procedure to get them more money?

Probably the latter scenario. Its a hypothetical - but it could happen if health records move increasingly online and if enough patients demand that level of control.

Insurers could potentially require specific tools be used to cover a procedure.

The dentist earns a few hundred, and the patient has a permanently-damaged health in the case of a tooth that was, in fact, healthy.

Maybe insurance companies would be interested in AI review on the basis of future costs. Informed patients might be, too.

Unfortunately, It'll just be great for insurance to deny necessary prescriptions/procedures/scans because AI review found nothing wrong

Some dentists want to fill "crevices" that may become a problem later, others wait until there is a problem. I've been fortunate to mostly have dentists that were happy to just do the semi-annual cleaning and annual xrays and nothing more than that unless I had a complaint or they spotted obvious decay.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com