A New AI Tool Cleared to Flag Hidden Tooth-Root Infections in 3D Dental Scans

Dentsply Sirona announced in May 2026 the launch of Smart View – Detect, described as the first FDA-cleared, AI-assisted tool designed to help clinicians evaluate cone-beam CT (CBCT) scans for a specific type of hidden tooth-root problem.

The condition it targets —

periapical radiolucencies, or PARLs — is a common finding, with published research suggesting that roughly 52 percent of adults have at least one affected tooth.

PARLs are areas of bone change at the tip of a tooth root that can indicate infection or inflammation, and they often cause no obvious symptoms until the problem has progressed.

The tool works by visually highlighting areas within a CBCT scan where a radiolucency may be present. In an internal clinical study, clinicians using the AI identified more affected teeth than they did during unaided review — an improvement that corresponded to roughly a 46 percent relative increase in detection sensitivity.

The feature does not provide a formal diagnosis; rather, its visual output is intended to support the dentist's own evaluation and to help facilitate clearer conversations with patients.

PARLs often require endodontic treatment, which makes catching them early important. At the same time, reviewing the large volume of data contained in a full 3D CBCT scan can be a demanding task in a busy clinical setting

— a gap this kind of decision-support software is designed to help close.

The feature is available for both new and existing compatible Dentsply Sirona CBCT systems through the company's cloud-based DS Core platform, and became available in the United States and Europe beginning May 12, 2026.

The launch is part of a broader wave of regulatory activity around AI in dental imaging.

Across the field, FDA-cleared AI platforms now address a range of applications — from caries detection in patients of various ages to automated measurement of bone loss around teeth — with some systems capable of flagging multiple conditions from a single set of X-rays.

For patients, the practical significance is straightforward: an AI acting as a second set of eyes on complex imaging may mean that a slow-developing problem at a tooth root is caught and addressed before it becomes a larger one.