This New AI Tool Can Help Protect Your Dog’s Teeth

When you think of “artificial intelligence,” many different things may come to mind, depending on who you ask: deepfakes of Tom Cruise performing magic tricks, kids cheating in school, a future uprising of robot overlords…the list goes on. But one thing most people may not consider? Improving pet health. But new technology is developing that will make it easier for us to care for our dogs and cats — including Canine Dental Check, a product that helps pet parents monitor oral health concerns in their dogs. 

The technology behind the tool

When the team behind Canine Dental Check set out to raise awareness about canine oral health, they quickly turned to the possibilities of AI. “It was clear that we need to create a computer vision model,” Nina Romanova, an AI product management leader with Mars Science & Diagnostics who oversaw the algorithm that powers Canine Dental Check, told Kinship.

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The tool was intended to analyze not only teeth, but also gum inflammation. But training a computer to recognize these complexities isn’t easy, and the team had to start from the ground up, training the AI using over 53,000 images. “Our first model is confirming there is a dog in the image,” Romanova explains. Then, they had to be sure the model could distinguish different body parts. When that was accomplished, there was still a way to go before it could analyze individual teeth — so the team labeled each individual tooth and gum in 7,000 images of a dog’s mouth. 

Eventually, after learning from tens of thousands of photos and labels, the technology was ready for launch. Now, using cutting edge AI technology, the dental scan technology can read each individual tooth and give you results within seconds. 

How to use Canine Dental Check

The technology couldn’t be simpler to use. Just take a photo of the inside of your dog’s mouth, answer a brief questionnaire, upload the photo to the Canine Dental Check page, and receive a breakdown of your pet’s tartar buildup and gum irritation. The photo should show the side of your dog’s mouth, with the lips pulled back so the back teeth and gums are visible; it should also be of good quality, so try to keep the camera still and in focus. 

Within moments, Canine Dental Check will tell you how many teeth show visual signs of tartar build up or gum irritation. A map of your dog’s mouth will highlight exactly which teeth or gum areas are affected; you can click on the highlighted area to learn more about how to prevent and treat dental issues. 

The tool can be used for any dog over the age of six months. Keep in mind that it’s not a diagnostic tool; if any oral health issues are identified, you should follow up with your veterinarian as soon as you can. You can also discuss your results with a vet technician for free via Mars’ PETconnect. 

How Canine Dental Check can help your dog

The team behind Canine Dental Check developed the tool to reinforce an important fact: Taking care of your dog’s teeth matters. Periodontal disease is one of the most common health issues in dogs, and it’s highly preventable with good dental hygiene. “I would just like people to use the tool and understand that this topic is important,” Romanova says.

Many people have heard that they should brush their dog’s teeth — or if that isn’t feasible, then they should add an oral care alternative like dental chews to their dog’s daily routine — but few really understand the importance of canine dental care; Romanova adds that when she tells others that she brushes her dog’s teeth, she’s often met with bewilderment. A tool like Canine Dental Check is a potent reminder that tartar buildup and gum irritation affect dogs, just as they affect humans.

“I would like [pet parents] to use it not once, but as a monitoring tool,” Romanova says. She adds that checking your dog’s teeth once every month or so is a way to maintain peace of mind between vet visits — and staying on top of any changes enables you to seek veterinary help soon after an issue arises. 

The future of AI in pet care 

Canine Dental Check is just one of several products arising as scientists explore the possibilities of AI. Poopscan is a similar offering from Mars; it enables pet parents to track the consistency of, you guessed it, their pet’s stool to be on the lookout for any concerns. Other researchers are attempting to develop AI that will help decode our pet’s facial expressions, and still others are hoping to be able to translate barks.

While some of these other behavioral and communicative uses are more experimental, in the world of veterinary health, Romanova believes in the productive power of AI technology like Canine Dental Check to help animals. “I know that some people are anxious about [AI], but I’m optimistic here, especially in the field of health,” she says. 

She adds that the technology developed by Canine Dental Check is just one of many steps forward in improving the lives of pets, and even bigger products are on the horizon. “AI is evolving very fast,” she says. “Every day we see more publications on new models and new approaches. We definitely are somewhere very close to a future where we can create personalized pet care. Right now we’re doing this in small steps, which are contributing to this future.”