Academic Journal
Accuracy and hallucination behaviors of artificial intelligence-based large language models for dental implant identification on radiographs.
| Τίτλος: | Accuracy and hallucination behaviors of artificial intelligence-based large language models for dental implant identification on radiographs. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Hlaing NHMM; Department of Prosthodontics, Seoul National University School of Dentistry, Seoul, Republic of Korea., Park K; Department of Prosthodontics, Seoul National University School of Dentistry, Seoul, Republic of Korea., Wan Q; Department of Prosthodontics, Seoul National University School of Dentistry, Seoul, Republic of Korea., Lee SJ; Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials Sciences, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Mass, United States., Gallucci GO; Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials Sciences, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Mass, United States., Lee JH; Department of Prosthodontics, Seoul National University School of Dentistry, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials Sciences, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Mass, United States; Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University School of Dentistry, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: jaehyun_lee@hsdm.harvard.edu. |
| Πηγή: | Journal of dentistry [J Dent] 2026 Oct; Vol. 173, pp. 106754. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 May 15. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0354422 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-176X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03005712 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Dent Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Kidlington : Elsevier Original Publication: Bristol, Eng., Wright. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Large Language Models* , Dental Implants* , Artificial Intelligence*, Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Generative Artificial Intelligence ; Radiography, Panoramic |
| Περίληψη: | Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and error patterns of four artificial intelligence-based large language models (LLMs) in identifying dental implant characteristics including implant level, connection type, brand, and manufacturer, on radiographic images. Methods: In total, 120 standardized radiographic images (60 periapical and 60 panoramic) representing six implant systems (Straumann BL, Straumann TL, Osstem TS [Hiossen ET], Osstem [Hiossen] US, Osstem [Hiossen] SS, and Dentium SuperLine) were retrospectively collected and analyzed. For each image, four multimodal LLMs (ChatGPT-5, ChatGPT-4o, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Grok 4) were queried six times with a standardized prompt that requested the implant level, connection type, brand, and manufacturer. The primary outcome was response-level accuracy. Responses were classified as successful or unsuccessful identification; unsuccessful responses were further categorized as definitive incorrect (hallucination), tentative incorrect, ambiguous, or abstention. Statistical analysis used generalized estimating equations for accuracy and Chi-square tests for error types (α=0.05). Results: Structural characteristics (implant level and connection type) were identified with accuracies ranging from 51.67% to 82.5%, whereas brand and manufacturer recognition remained consistently poor (4.17%-32.78%). Hallucinations represented the predominant error type (>87% of errors in all models), while ChatGPT-5 showed a comparatively higher rate of abstention and lower hallucination frequency. Conclusions: Current LLMs have limited capability for the definitive radiographic identification of dental implant systems, particularly for specific brands. Recent model iterations show a promising trend toward reduced hallucinations and increased reliability through abstention; however, their high error rates indicate that they can only be considered as supplementary tools requiring clinician verification. Clinical Significance: Current LLMs are not sufficiently reliable for definitive radiographic implant identification, and their outputs should be interpreted with clinician verification. However, the increasing tendency of recent models to acknowledge uncertainty indicates promising progress toward safer clinical decision support systems. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Computer-assisted diagnosis; Dental implants; Dental radiography; Hallucinations; Large language models |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 0 (Dental Implants) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260516 Date Completed: 20260715 Latest Revision: 20260715 |
| Update Code: | 20260715 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jdent.2026.106754 |
| PMID: | 42142612 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1879-176X |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jdent.2026.106754 |