The world’s first AI-powered, fully automated dental procedure on a human was conducted by a robot in the United States recently, paving the way for faster and more accurate procedures. According to Boston-based Perceptive - backed by Mark Zuckerberg’s dentist father, the latest imaging software paired with a robotic arm has taken a big bite out of future medical technology. "This medical breakthrough enhances precision and efficiency of dental procedures,” said Chief executive and founder Dr. Chris Ciriello.

Perceptive has also claimed that in the future, crown placements could be completed in just 15 minutes without much hassle. That compares to the current methods that need two-hour-long, multiple visits to the dentist.

Stat News has reported that the initial treatment that took place in Barranquilla, Colombia – showed the bot independently drilling into and shaving down a person’s tooth – in a process known as cutting. The robot scans images beneath a patient’s gum line and uses AI for analysis before the robotic arms are put into action.

The system uses a hand-held 3D volumetric scanner, which builds a detailed 3D model of the mouth, including the teeth, gums, and even nerves under the tooth surface, using optical coherence tomography, or OCT. It also includes data for diagnostics and treatment planning, enabling early and highly accurate diagnoses, the company said.

Perceptive says the procedure cuts harmful X-ray radiation out of the process, as OCT uses nothing more than light beams to build its volumetric models, which come out at high resolution, with cavities automatically detected at an accuracy rate of around 90 per cent.

The road ahead

According to Perceptive, the robotic device is still a work in progress as more ways to make the procedure safer are being devised. However, it is not currently on sale in the US and does not have clearance from the American regulator - the Food and Drug Administration.

Perceptive says the approval would take around five more years to come through.

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