Can Artificial Intelligence Substitute Dental Public Health Expertise? A Competency-Based Analysis Across Core DPH Domains.

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into public health and dentistry, with a range of applications. While these developments raise questions about efficiency and scalability, uncertainty remains regarding whether AI can substitute for Dental Public Health (DPH) expertise. This paper aims to distinguish between AI-amenable and fundamentally human DPH competencies. METHODS: An analytical framework was applied to the 10 dental public health (DPH) specialty competencies. Current AI applications reported in the health literature were mapped across competencies including program management, systems evaluation, ethical decision-making, surveillance system design, communication, collaboration and leadership, policy advocacy, evidence appraisal, research, and integration of social determinants of health. RESULTS: AI demonstrated strong technical capacity across data-intensive and analytical competencies, including program management, systems evaluation, surveillance design, evidence appraisal, research, and integration of social determinants of health. These domains were classified as augmentable, as AI enhanced data integration, pattern recognition, and operational efficiency when accompanied by appropriate human oversight. In contrast, competencies grounded in ethical decision-making, communication, leadership and collaboration, and policy advocacy were identified as irreplaceable, as they require moral judgment, contextual interpretation, professional accountability, and relational engagement beyond current AI capabilities. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the use of AI as a complementary tool in DPH while affirming that the specialists remain indispensable for governance, equity, public accountability, and strategic decision-making in population oral health policy and practice. Competency frameworks, accreditation standards, and workforce development efforts should explicitly define the appropriate role of AI while reinforcing the primacy of human judgment and ethical leadership in population oral health practice.