Clinics Transformed with Artificial Intelligence: A Case from Praktident and CranioCatch Collaboration

Introduction: Praktident's Visionary Identity

Beyond being a well-established dental clinic chain serving a vast patient base with multiple branches in the Netherlands and Turkey, Praktident is an organization that also creates its own digital infrastructure and software solutions tailored to clinical needs. Under the leadership of its founder, Mr. Metin, the patient tracking software called Praktident AI, developed over 10 years to meet the needs of their own clinics, has played a central role in digitalizing clinical operations. The initial motivation for this software arose from a simple need, "We needed a program for our clinic in Turkey," and it gradually evolved to conform to Dutch insurance systems, achieving a structure suitable for international standards. Praktident AI, with its user-friendly interface and integrated solutions, facilitates the daily work of dentists and assistants.

According to Mr. Metin, Praktident's founder, the patient tracking software they developed stands out with its simple and user-friendly interface. He emphasizes that they can explain the system to a new dentist in just 10 minutes, whereas other clinic software used in the Netherlands is much more complex, potentially taking hours for a dentist to learn all functions.

Problem / Need: Challenges in Traditional Dental Practice

In traditional dental practice, significant challenges are faced, especially in initial patient examinations and manual analysis of imaging data. Manually noting down caries, fillings, and other pathologies from X-ray images can be time-consuming, lead to overlooked findings, and make standardization in diagnostic processes difficult. In a busy clinic flow, the time dentists can dedicate to detailed reporting and patient information processes may be limited. Furthermore, situations like different tooth numbering systems or reversed image displays could cause confusion in the assistants' workflow.

Solution: Strategic Collaboration with CranioCatch

To overcome these challenges and enhance clinical efficiency, Praktident met CranioCatch, a company specializing in AI-powered image analysis solutions, at the TDB International Dentistry Congress in Ankara in 2022. CranioCatch's automatic analysis capabilities impressed Mr. Metin, and the idea of integration with their own software quickly developed. Through the collaboration of two teams, CranioCatch's AI models were quickly and seamlessly integrated into Praktident's in-house developed Praktident AI software. This integration provided each branch with access to a centralized AI-powered system.

Daily Use and Concrete Contributions

The integration of CranioCatch into Praktident AI has brought about radical changes in the clinics:

• Time Savings: By analyzing panoramic X-rays of new patients with AI, the time dentists spent manually noting down caries, fillings, and other findings has been reduced by an average of 5 to 10 minutes. This plays a significant role in increasing daily patient capacity.
• Accuracy and Quality Improvement:
  • Detection of Overlooked Findings: AI warns by highlighting hidden caries, abscesses, or other pathologies that might be overlooked by dentists in their busy schedule with red lines. This enables early detection of potentially serious problems. For example, when a patient comes in with a specific pain complaint, the dentist naturally focuses on that area, but AI analysis might draw attention to another problem elsewhere on the X-ray with a red mark. In this way, a more significant problem in such a patient can be prevented, and a critical finding outside the dentist's immediate focus can be caught.
  • Periodontal Tracking: The standardized, proportional, and linear display of periodontal problems like bone loss eliminates the difficulty of manual measurements. This allows for accurate tracking of changes in patients' conditions over the years. "In one case, we showed the bone loss by comparing it from 2 years ago to today. You cannot explain this clearly with a ruler."
  • Tooth Number Detection in Bitewing Images: According to feedback from the clinic team, AI automatically identifies tooth numbers in X-ray images, eliminating confusion caused by reversed image displays and greatly simplifying the workflow for assistants.
• Enhanced Patient Communication and Trust: AI-generated visual reports (e.g., abscesses or caries marked with colored areas) help patients understand their conditions more concretely. This transparency increases patient trust and helps them make more informed treatment decisions.
• Standardized Record Keeping and Documentation: Since AI analyses are automatically saved to patient files, all findings are documented even if dentists forget to note them down due to busyness. This ensures that the patient file can be fully reviewed even years later and provides significant assurance in legal processes.
• New Dentist Adaptation: The detailed and visual analyses provided by AI help new dentists adapt more quickly to the clinic system and case evaluation processes.
• Dentist Experience and Workflow Transformation: After integrating CranioCatch's AI analyses into the system, a striking transformation occurred in clinic operations:

“A patient arrives, an OPG is taken and processed by the AI system. When the dentist meets with the patient, the analyzed report is already available. I recently introduced it to a new doctor, and his eyes lit up. He said, ‘This is unlike anything I’ve seen — no clinic I worked at in the Netherlands had such a system.’”

This experience is not just a technological integration; it stands out as a simple, efficient, and impressive application example that makes a tangible difference in dentists' daily workflows.

Praktident AI: From Clinical Experience to Commercialization

Praktident considers this successful experience with CranioCatch in their own clinics as the cornerstone of Praktident AI software's development. Praktident AI, proven successful and tested with real data in their own clinic chain, is now preparing to be offered to external clinics. With CE certification applications completed, the software is aimed to be launched in the market in 2026. Additionally, extra programs like Praktilab for tracking laboratory workflow and modules for invisible aligner tracking have been developed. This case study aims to inspire other clinics in their digital transformation processes by being concrete proof of Praktident AI's effectiveness and reliability in a clinical setting.

Future and Shared Vision: Technology-Empowered Clinics

The collaboration between Praktident and CranioCatch not only solves existing problems but also offers a visionary perspective on how dental practice will be shaped in the future. This partnership model showcases the potential of artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector while aiming to inspire other clinics for similar digital transformation processes. The common goal of both companies is to enhance quality standards in the sector by increasing the number of technology-empowered, more efficient, accurate, and patient-focused clinics.

Conclusion: Let Transformation Begin in Your Clinic Too!

Would you like to initiate an AI-powered transformation in your clinic, increase operational efficiency, and provide your patients with a superior treatment experience? Contact us to learn more about the innovative solutions offered by Praktident AI and CranioCatch, and how you can integrate them into your own clinic.