This article examines the transformative potential of ProSocial Artificial Intelligence (AI) in revolutionizing oral health care. ProSocial AI emphasizes prevention over treatment, empowering patients through autonomy, personalized support, and shared decision-making. Key applications include predictive analytics for early disease detection, AI-driven telemedicine for underserved populations, and continuous professional education for practitioners. The article highlights the necessity of ethical AI deployment to ensure transparency, equity, and sustainability, advocating collaboration across disciplines to reframe oral health as a cornerstone of global health and human development. AI is increasingly transforming dental specialties by enhancing diagnostic accuracy, streamlining treatment planning, and improving patient outcomes.
Key points
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ProSocial Artificial Intelligence (ProSocial AI) is developed based on ethical and patient-centered principles that is globally adaptable.
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ProSocial AI bridges gaps in health care by being proactive and preventative initiatives rather than disease-centric treatment model.
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ProSocial AI supports ethical artificial intelligence (AI) deployment to ensure transparency, equity, and sustainability for all aspects of global health and human development.
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Dentistry, like the other heathcare domains uses AI to understand, design, and delivder dental care to patients across the globe.
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ProSocial AI is fully supported by the United Nations High-Level Advisory body on AI.
Abbreviations
| AI | artificial intelligence |
| ProSocial AI | ProSocial Artificial Intelligence |
| SDG 3 | sustainable development goal 3 |
| SDGs | sustainable development goals |
| UHC | universal health care |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
Introduction: the intersection of artificial intelligence and oral health
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing health care, yet its integration into oral health remains an emerging frontier. Traditionally, dentistry has been reactive, focusing on treating diseases like caries and periodontal disease after they occur. The introduction of ProSocial AI—a concept rooted in aligning technology with human and societal well-being—offers a transformative pathway to shift from reactive to proactive, equitable, and preventive oral health care.
Oral health is essential to universal health care (UHC) and directly contributes to individuals’ and communities’ overall health and well-being. However, broader health care reforms have often neglected oral health services, leaving significant access, availability, and affordability gaps. In North America, oral health inequities persist, disproportionately affecting marginalized populations who face barriers to accessing quality dental care. These gaps underscore the need for systemic changes to achieve true UHC, as envisioned in the sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly sustainable development goal 3 (SDG 3), which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
The SDGs set an ambitious agenda that calls for reducing health disparities and ensuring inclusive access to health care. Oral health is a critical element of this vision because it affects physical, mental, and social well-being. Poor oral health can lead to chronic conditions, reduced quality of life, and significant economic burdens. Despite these impacts, oral health has often been compartmentalized and treated as secondary to other aspects of health care. To overcome these challenges, it is important to focus on integrating oral health into UHC and aligning it with the SDGs.
ProSocial AI presents a unique opportunity to bridge these gaps by focusing on patient empowerment, prevention, and inclusivity. Unlike traditional AI applications prioritizing efficiency or profit, ProSocial AI is intentionally designed to enhance collective well-being and sustainability. By leveraging AI to provide predictive analytics, personalized support, and equitable access to dental care, we can better address the social determinants of health that often lead to oral health disparities. This proactive, patient-centered approach is necessary to move beyond the treatment of disease and toward prevention, ultimately ensuring that oral health is recognized as a fundamental component of UHC.
For oral health experts in North America and beyond, embracing ProSocial AI means fostering a transformative shift toward equity in care. This shift entails using AI technologies to empower patients, support practitioners, and create health systems that are more resilient and accessible. ProSocial AI can help tackle challenges such as the high cost of dental treatments, geographic barriers to care, and a shortage of dental professionals in underserved areas. By doing so, it supports the broader vision of the SDGs. It contributes to a more inclusive, holistic approach to health care that recognizes oral health as integral to general health and well-being. In the following, we will briefly explain the concept of ProSocial AI and its potential for UHC and the SDGs before looking at the overall current applications of AI in dentistry.
ProSocial artificial intelligence: a human-centered framework
ProSocial AI emphasizes the intentional design and deployment of AI systems to enhance human well-being, equity, and sustainability. The concept catalyzes inclusive oral health, which impacts systemic health, emotional well-being, and quality of life. By focusing on patient empowerment, personalized care, and the ethical use of algorithms, ProSocial AI can redefine the trajectory of oral health and the global undertaking of holistic UHC as enshrined in SDG 3.
Defining ProSocial Artificial Intelligence
ProSocial AI is a unique approach to AI that is tailored, trained, tested, and targeted to bring out the best in and for people and the planet. Unlike traditional AI systems, which often focus on maximizing efficiency, convenience, or profitability, ProSocial AI prioritizes collective well-being. On a structural level, it integrates equity, justice, and sustainability principles. On a systemic level, it promotes human-centered outcomes that align with long-term planetary health by addressing social determinants of health in a transdisciplinary manner that considers the hybrid nature of people and planet.
ProSocial AI is a framework that aligns AI with human values, focusing on social good, inclusivity, and planetary well-being. During the 2024 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Science Summit, 3 unique panels explored this vision; in particular, the panel on AI and the Future of Health demonstrated how AI can be tailored to promote holistic health across communities. The Summit was followed by the release of the UN High-level report “Governing AI for Humanity,” which emphasized the necessity of governance frameworks prioritizing ethical AI deployment for global equity. Respectively and combined, these perspectives are enshrined in the Global Digital Compact, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 22nd, highlighting the role of digital innovation in fostering inclusive progress for social good. Together, these discussions open the door for ProSocial AI to act as a catalyst for UHC by curating systems that are not only technologically advanced but also fundamentally aligned with global health and social justice goals. France’s 2025 AI Summit is expected to pursue this direction further.
Key Characteristics of ProSocial Artificial Intelligence
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Tailored: Created to be organically embedded in existing systems to address social and environmental challenges and ensure positive outcomes.
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Trained: Developed using datasets and algorithms that prioritize ethical and prosocial outcomes.
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Tested: Rigorously evaluated for its impact on human and planetary well-being.
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Targeted: Focused on achieving specific prosocial goals, such as reducing health inequities.
In contrast, commercial AI versions often prioritize profit-driven outcomes and may not fully consider the broader societal and environmental impacts. While they can be useful tools, commercial AI systems may inadvertently exacerbate existing inequalities or prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability. It matters to remember, on the one hand, the gigantic energy consumption and environmental footprint that large language models have, from the stage of training to each utilization, as well as the impact of land occupation and toxic waste that results from sprawling data centers that constitute de facto a new type of colonialism. Those who are paying the direct costs of this occupation are communities in territories that have little to no access to the Internet.
Underpinning Logic
The ProSocial AI framework is built on recognizing that human existence operates across 2 sets of 4 dimensions ( Fig. 1 ). At the individual level, these dimensions consist of aspirations, emotions, thoughts, and sensations. At the collective level, individuals are embedded within communities, countries, and the planet, creating a dynamic interplay between personal and collective spheres. In the pursuit of holistic health, it is crucial to address both dimensions and the mutual influences that flow between them.
Everything is connected in a continuum of constant multidirectional change. Individuals and the environment evolve organically and continuously, influencing each other.
Key pillars of ProSocial artificial intelligence in oral health
Patient-Centric Empowerment and Autonomy
ProSocial AI fosters patient agency by providing tools that enable individuals to take charge of their oral health. Initiatives like SmileAI, an initiative of the University’s School of Dental Medicine, illustrate this by offering personalized oral health education through 24/7 coaching that supports caregivers of disabled individuals. These technologies demystify oral care, translating complex clinical knowledge into actionable insights for patients and empowering them to prevent tooth decay and other diseases rather than enduring consequences.
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