Field
AI-Enabled Solutions
Date
April 2026
Abstract
Ever wonder what would happen if every dental student had a seasoned medical risk consultant in their pocket? One that never gets tired, never forgets a guideline, and always explains the “why” behind every decision? That’s PowerCatChat‑Dentistry. Built by Dugoni and SOECS, it does not just answer questions; it ingests a patient’s medical history, medications, and clinical findings to deliver a comprehensive, structured risk assessment with clear rationale and step‑by‑step chairside management strategies. Drawing on medical association guidelines, current literature, and Pacific’s own lectures, PowerCatChat can detect student emotions, putting them at ease in a stressful clinical setting and nudging them to ask deeper questions and model confident, compassionate doctor‑patient communication.
Under the hood, it is engineered for clinical and pharmacologic accuracy and high‑stakes safety, with human oversight and explicit flags for red‑light conditions that require faculty review. PowerCatChat runs in a HIPAA‑aligned, highly secure, and scalable cloud environment with strong access controls and data protections to keep patient information locked down and compliant. Our ready‑to‑go medical risk module is just a scratch on the surface. Our next goals are gum and bone assessments, complex dental case support, and personalized treatment planning.
PowerCatChat, which is transforming dentistry, can also be extended to the School of Health Sciences and Pharmacy, where case‑based decision support, clinical reasoning, and communication coaching are central to training practice‑ready clinicians and pharmacists. Together, these extensions turn PowerCatChat into a shared, institution‑wide AI initiative, elevating how future dentists, health professionals, and pharmacists learn to think, decide, and care for patients.
Recommended Citation
Nguyen, Han; Krishnamani Pallipuram, Vivek; and Iyer, Parvati Dr., "PowerCatChat‑Dentistry: An AI Clinical Coach for Pacific Dental Students" (2026). Pacific Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit (PIES). 42.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pies/42
