We've seen enough blooper videos from robotics companies to know that robots can malfunction, and we've seen enough science fiction to know that when robots go wrong, there's no stopping them. That's why the thought of a robot drilling your teeth is quite frightening, as if getting dental work done isn't frightening enough on its own. But a dentistry robot is here, from a company called Perceptive.
Their robot offers quite a few advantages over a flash-and-blood dentist, starting with a unique imaging system called optical coherence tomography (OCT) that uses light like a sonar, investigating exactly where that tooth decay is inside a tooth, and therefore being able to plan a procedure to remove precisely enough material to get the job done. By contrast, a dentist is usually drilling in exploration, making procedural decisions as he/she goes.
But what if the patient moves during robotic drilling? The Perceptive robot moves with them, because the drill is anchored inside the mouth. Genius. The Perceptive robot has been used on people with good results. The next step will be clinical trials to get FDA approval, so it may be a few years before you have to decide whether to let a robot fill your cavities. Read a more thorough explanation of what this dental robot does at Spectrum IEEE. -via Real Clear Science
(Image credit: Perspective)