AI is already being used or piloted across dental training, from teaching and clinical simulation to assessment. A review of 75 studies urges the General Dental Council to treat its introduction as a patient-safety issue, not simply an opportunity to innovate.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
The review examined research on AI in dental education and included interviews with regulators, education specialists and recently qualified dentists. Resultsense reports that researchers identified benefits including more personalised learning, faster feedback and opportunities to practise clinical procedures in simulation.
They also identified risks: inaccurate AI-generated material, over-reliance by students, cheating and the handling of patient data. Their recommendations include clearer rules for AI in teaching and assessment, better digital skills for students and staff, stronger data protection, and continued checks on effects on clinical competence and patients.
The university announced the review on 28 October. Resultsense says it was produced independently for the GDC and will inform the regulator’s Safe Practitioner framework and education standards.
Why it matters
Dental training is not just about whether a tool helps students study. If AI changes how future dentists learn, practise and are assessed, regulators need to consider whether graduates can still demonstrate the judgement and competence patients rely on.
That makes the review’s safety framing consequential. It connects classroom choices, such as how AI can be used in assessment, to the standards that govern clinical practice. The recommendations are not themselves new GDC rules, but they point to where the regulator may need to make expectations clearer.
Our read
The useful question is not whether dental schools should use AI at all. It is how they can make room for useful feedback and simulation without letting fluent answers stand in for clinical judgement. AI can be a teaching aid; it should not get to mark its own homework, metaphorically or otherwise.
The review’s recommendations put governance, data protection and competence on the agenda. The next test is whether the GDC turns those concerns into clear expectations for schools, students and assessors.
What to watch
- How the GDC addresses AI in its Safe Practitioner framework and education standards.
- Whether dental schools set clear rules for AI use in teaching and assessment.
- How regulators assess whether AI-assisted training supports, rather than weakens, clinical competence.
Discussion spark: Should dental students be allowed to use AI in assessed work if they must demonstrate their own clinical judgement, or should AI be kept out of assessment altogether?
Sources and evidence
- Review urges GDC to treat AI in dental training as safety – Resultsense (6 November 2026, 10:01 UTC)
- Jisc launches AI decision framework for college leaders – Resultsense (6 November 2026, 10:01 UTC)
- Cabinet Office AI tools almost all run on US models – Resultsense (6 November 2026, 10:01 UTC)
- AI set to reshape three in ten jobs in southern England – Resultsense (6 November 2026, 10:01 UTC)
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