CBCT, 3D Printing, Robots - Evolution of the dental industry #dentaltip

Rise of the robots - Two dental implants placed by a robot

Dear fellow Steemians!




The dental health care industry and dental offices worldwide offer millions of jobs. The businesses around the original dental profession are developing and have been growing for years. The CEREC system, which allows you to scan teeth and mill ceramic crowns and inlays in one appointment, was developed in 1980. The first patient was treated in 1985. More than 30 years later the market is flooded with different scanning systems and milling machines. More and more 3D printers are found in dental offices and laboratories. It's just a question of time until the plaster model belong to the past. For implants and endodontic treatments the use of a CBCT is very useful to check in advance if there is enough bone in all dimensions. This is important for the outcome. Especially in the esthetic area it's crucial to place the implant in the perfect position. "Backward planning" is the key to success. New software allows the dentist to plan the crown via a CBCT and the optimal implant position is marked. A printed or milled drilling template is then used during the operation to place the implant. The procedure is used daily in offices all over the globe.

In our office in Hannover we offer chair-side ceramic inlays, partial crowns and crowns made with CEREC. State of the art Endodontics is another focus in our office. We are equipped with a dental microscope and the newest technology available.

A couple of weeks ago I read an article about a Chinese robot that placed two implants by itself without human assistance. The precision is phenomenal and the operation took not more than an hour. The primary reason for the development of the robot is a lack of dentists in China in the future. More than 400 million implants are needed and about 1 million operations are performed each year in China.

#Dentaltipp
If you ever need an implant, ask your dentist which brand he or she uses. There are hundreds of companies selling implants. Some of them are used in the market for a couple of years and vanish as fast as they appeared. If you have an implant by a known brand like Straumann or Noble Biocare, it's quite safe that they will produce all needed parts at least for the next 50 years.

In my opinion the hardest part of the operation is not the placement of the implant itself but definitely the planning in complex cases, health issues of the patient during the treatment and the postoperative management in case of failures. Right now I can't think of a possible way in the next 10-20 years where there is no dentist in the room and a robot by itself is treating the patients. Lucky me 😜

The future for the dental industry looks great. New technologies are used in the field and the beneficiary are the patients for sure. Let's hope that the costs won't keep growing so that dental health care would just be for the extremely rich people. Maybe it's even possible to lower the costs with new technology.

Source: DocCheck
Photo: James Pond on Unsplash

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Enjoy life, have fun and take more beautiful photos!
Sebastian

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