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There is no mention of a feedback mechanism for the patient to express that the pain level is too high and something should be changed in method and/or anesthetic. And what about soft tissues? Does the robot image those so it knows there is a tongue in the way?
Will robot dentists facilitate the option to lay face down for procedures so that the debris and saliva falls out instead of needing the suction tool?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Me and my team made a piece of successful software for patients and clinicians. It is really difficult, mostly for the reasons you state, but it is possible. It's used in about half the NHS, and I personally know three people who've used our app to successfully manage their pregnancy complication, which is great.
There is less political capture of this process in the UK.
The UK is bad at creating a pro-business/pro-investment environment, so we have to buy in stuff from elsewhere, even though it's not well-suited to our needs. Or best case we find US-based investment for our companies.
It’s going to become increasingly apparent in the US over time the degree to which doctors & the regulatory state are blocking us from getting cheap new care. Already ML algos are more accurate at diagnosing melanomas from an image than dermatologists - but we will never get that tech because doctors are fiercely protective of their salaries and have captured the arm of the state to help them do so.
I don't think that some regulations ensuring the tooth drilling robot isn't going to explode teeth is unwarranted even though that drives up cost of development.
I think what's being overlooked here by some commenters is the speed of this machine. A normal cavity filling can take 20/30 minutes. Imagine if that could be cut down to 1 minute with a perfect filling at the end? Even if we are talking about the dentist messing up the pain killing application it'll all be over pretty damn fast.
I think what's being overlooked here by some commenters is the speed of this machine. A normal cavity filling can take 20/30 minutes. Imagine if that could be cut down to 1 minute with a perfect filling at the end? Even if we are talking about the dentist messing up the pain killing application it'll all be over pretty damn fast.
The freezing doesn't always work for me. If I say "hey, I can feel that" the second dose might work, and it might not.
What happens next is that they slow down, and while this sounds like compassion, it also lengthens the time they're drilling into my head while I can feel it.
Just building up a resistance to physical torture. Bring it on, movie CIA guy.
I think a quick, very intense filling might be better than a long, slow one.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The issue is liability, just like self driving cars. Even if ML is more accurate, when it does get it wrong the buck has to stop somewhere. Those questions need to be answered first.
If ML is more accurate than doctors at the task, seems like the liability insurance should be lower. But yes, I agree that the US needs major tort reform regardless. I just don’t think tort is the major barrier compared to occupational licensing & the FDA though.
Will robot dentists facilitate the option to lay face down for procedures so that the debris and saliva falls out instead of needing the suction tool?
What if I like the taste of burning tooth enamel? Can I flip over still?
You'll have to ask when the time comes and report back.
Sometimes the drill is necessary, but imagine how infrequently we'd need it if there were robots in our homes that could do an immaculate job with the daily cleaning.
;)
I think what's being overlooked here by some commenters is the speed of this machine. A normal cavity filling can take 20/30 minutes. Imagine if that could be cut down to 1 minute with a perfect filling at the end? Even if we are talking about the dentist messing up the pain killing application it'll all be over pretty damn fast.
Pfft. That’s nothing. Imagine if it was 30 seconds rather than twice that time? Can’t get better than that.
My assumption is that for a regular cavity fill, the drilling will be a much smaller portion of the time than the filling bonding. You can see that in the crown placement video in the article, almost no time is spent removing the outside tooth. The actual spent time is building up the crown.