Artificial intelligence in oral pathology: Current applications, challenges, and future prospects
, ,
Abstract
The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the diagnostics industry and oral pathology is no exception. AI has been leveraged for disease diagnosis in the field of diagnostics and deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) algorithms have been employed for histopathological analysis, which has been automated. AI has also shown tremendous potential in diagnostics, with a particular emphasis on improving disease diagnosis, as well as in histopathology, where deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) algorithms have been utilized to automate the process. AI systems can classify oral lesions and grade dysplasia, analyze cytology slides, and correlate clinical and molecular data for individual patient treatment planning. Nevertheless, there are still hurdles, such as the lack of high-quality data, variability in staining and slide preparation procedures, a lack of interpretability and regulatory and ethics concerns. The aim of this review was to present the present situation of AI in oral pathology, its clinical applications, challenges and limitations, and future directions for research and clinical use.
Dates & metrics
- Received
- 25 Feb 2026
- Accepted
- 15 Apr 2026
- Published
- 16 Jul 2026
Research metrics from Altmetric, Dimensions and PlumX load once cookies are accepted - they are provided by those companies and would otherwise be told you are reading this.
References
Sure — same formatting treatment, with no changes to the reference content:
Lorini L, Besco s Atí n C, Thavaraj S, Mü ller-Richter U, Alberola Ferranti M, Pamias Romero J, et al. Overview of Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders: From Risk Factors to Specific Therapies. Cancers (Basel). 2021;13(15):3696. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13153696
Tseng LJ, Matsüyama A, MacDonald-Dickinson V. Histology: The gold standard for diagnosis?. Can Vet J. 2023;64(4):389–91.
Süresh A, Naidü SN, Inginshetty V, Ravi R. Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning in Endodontics: A Literatüre Review. Oral Sphere J Dent Health Sci. 2025;1(2):111–5. https://doi.org/10.63150/osjdhs.2025.7
Lepakshi VA. Machine Learning and Deep Learning based AI Tools for Development of Diagnostic Tools. Computational Approaches for Novel Therapeutic and Diagnostic Designing to Mitigate SARS-CoV-2 Infection. 2022;399-420. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91172-6.00011-X
Ali M, Benfante V, Basirinia G, Alongi P, Sperandeo A, Qüattrocchi A, et al. Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, and Machine Learning to Süpport the Analysis of Microscopic Images of Cells and Tissües. J Imaging. 2025;11(2):59. https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging11020059
Kashwani R, Ahüja G, Narüla V, Jose AT, Külkarni V, Hajong R, et al. Fütüre of dental care: integrating AI, metaverse, AR/VR, teledentistry, CAD & 3D printing, blockchain and CRISPR innovations. Comm Practitioner. 2024;21(6):123–37. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11485287
Sawhney H, Bhargava D, Kashwani R, Mishra R. Artificial intelligence as a tool for improving oral cancer oütcomes. Arch Dent Res. 2023;13(1):15–19. https://doi.org/10.18231/j.adr.2023.003
Shen M, Jiang Z, Feng Y, Lin Z, Lü C, Sün J, et al. Diagnostic performance of convolütional neüral network-based AI in detecting oral sqüamoüs cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Oral Health. 2026;26(1):884. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-025-07543-5
Ramesh E, Ganesan A, Lakshmi KC, Natarajan PM. Artificial intelligence-based diagnosis of oral leükoplakia üsing deep convolütional neüral networks Xception and MobileNet-v2. Front Oral Health. 2025;6:1414524. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2025.1414524.
Ranganathan K, Kavitha L. Oral epithelial dysplasia: Classifications and clinical relevance in risk assessment of oral potentially malignant disorders. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol. 2019;23(1):19–27. https://doi.org/10.4103/jomfp.JOMFP_13_19
Dixit S, Kümar A, Srinivasan K. A Cürrent Review of Machine Learning and Deep Learning Models in Oral Cancer Diagnosis: Recent Technologies, Open Challenges, and Fütüre Research Directions. Diagnostics (Basel). 2023;13(7):1353. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13071353
Rosen AW, Ose I, Go genür M, Andersen LPK, Bojesen RD, Vogelsang RP, et al. Clinical implementation of an AI-based prediction model for decision süpport for patients ündergoing colorectal cancer sürgery. Nat Med. 2025;31:3737–48. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03942-x
Ferro A, Kotecha S, Fan K. Machine learning in point-of-care aütomated classification of oral potentially malignant and malignant disorders: a systematic review and metaanalysis. Sci Rep. 2022;12(1):13797. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17489-1
Betmoüni S. Diagnostic digital pathology implementation: Learning from the digital health experience. Digit Health. 2021;7:20552076211020240. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076211020240
Xü Z, Lin A, Han X. Cürrent AI Applications and Challenges in Oral Pathology. Oral (Basel). 2025;5(1):2. https://doi.org/10.3390/oral5010002
Imran MT, Shafi I, Ahmad J, Bütt MFU, Villar SG, Villena EG, et al. Virtüal histopathology methods in medical imaging - a systematic review. BMC Med Imaging. 2024;24(1):318. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-024-01498-9
Johannssen A, Chükhrova N. The crücial role of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) in improving health care management. Health Care Manag Sci. 2025;28(3):565–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10729-025-09720-y
Abdül NS, Shivakümar GC, Sangappa SB, Di Blasio M, Crimi S, Cicciü M, et al. Applications of artificial intelligence in the field of oral and maxillofacial pathology: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Oral Health. 2024;24(1):122. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-023-03533-7
Alkhanboüli R, Almadhaani HMA, Alhosani F, Simsekler MCE. The role of explainable artificial intelligence in disease prediction: a systematic literatüre review and fütüre research directions. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2025;25(1):110. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-025-02944-6
Albühayri FS, Albshaier SJ, Dashti AI, Alrajhi JF, Alhamidy FK, Büsühail MA, et al. The Expanding Role of Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry: A Cross-Specialty Chairside Perspective. Cureus. 2025;17(12):e98449. https://doi.org/10.7759/cüreüs.98449
Li H, Chen S, Chang B, Wang X, He Y, Xü B, et al. Application of artificial intelligence in oral health management: challenges and opportünities. Front Med (Lausanne). 2026;13:1700529. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2026.1700529
How to cite this article
Gajdhar SK, Rahaman SMU, Gajdhar S. Artificial intelligence in oral pathology: Current applications, challenges, and future prospects. J. Sci. Adv. Dent. 2026;1(2):63-67. doi:10.65929/JSAD.2026.1.2.006
Gajdhar, S. K., Rahaman, S. M. U., & Gajdhar, S. (2026). Artificial intelligence in oral pathology: Current applications, challenges, and future prospects. Journal of Scientific Advances in Dentistry, 1(2), 63-67. https://doi.org/10.65929/JSAD.2026.1.2.006
Sajda Khan Gajdhar, Syed Mukith Ur Rahaman, and Shaiq Gajdhar. "Artificial intelligence in oral pathology: Current applications, challenges, and future prospects." Journal of Scientific Advances in Dentistry, vol. 1, no. 2, 2026, pp. 63-67. https://doi.org/10.65929/JSAD.2026.1.2.006
Sajda Khan Gajdhar, Syed Mukith Ur Rahaman, and Shaiq Gajdhar. "Artificial intelligence in oral pathology: Current applications, challenges, and future prospects." Journal of Scientific Advances in Dentistry 1, no. 2 (2026): 63-67. https://doi.org/10.65929/JSAD.2026.1.2.006
© 2026 the authors. Published by REVO Publication. This article is distributed under CC BY 4.0, which permits use and redistribution provided the original work is properly cited.