Robotic Applications in Orthodontics: Changing the Face of Contemporary Clinical Care

Abstract

The last decade (2010-2021) has witnessed the evolution of robotic applications in orthodontics. This review scopes and analyzes published orthodontic literature in eight different domains: (1) robotic dental assistants; (2) robotics in diagnosis and simulation of orthodontic problems; (3) robotics in orthodontic patient education, teaching, and training; (4) wire bending and customized appliance robotics; (5) nanorobots/microrobots for acceleration of tooth movement and for remote monitoring; (6) robotics in maxillofacial surgeries and implant placement; (7) automated aligner production robotics; and (8) TMD rehabilitative robotics. A total of 1,150 records were searched, of which 124 potentially relevant articles were retrieved in full. 87 studies met the selection criteria following screening and were included in the scoping review. The review found that studies pertaining to arch wire bending and customized appliance robots, simulative robots for diagnosis, and surgical robots have been important areas of research in the last decade (32%, 22%, and 16%). Rehabilitative robots and nanorobots are quite promising and have been considerably reported in the orthodontic literature (13%, 9%). On the other hand, assistive robots, automated aligner production robots, and patient robots need more scientific data to be gathered in the future (1%, 1%, and 6%). Technological readiness of different robotic applications in orthodontics was further assessed. The presented eight domains of robotic technologies were assigned to an estimated technological readiness level according to the information given in the publications. Wire bending robots, TMD robots, nanorobots, and aligner production robots have reached the highest levels of technological readiness: 9; diagnostic robots and patient robots reached level 7, whereas surgical robots and assistive robots reached lower levels of readiness: 4 and 3, respectively.

Cantilevers: Multi-Tool in Orthodontic Treatment

“…Modern technologies could aid to improve cantilever design and improve the treatment flow. In the last decade, the interest in the field of robotic wire bending and robotic customization of CAD/CAM appliances has increased [ 64 ]. To improve the precision, cantilevers could be designed in the software and bend indirectly by the robots.…”

Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality in Dentistry: A Narrative Review on the Existing Platforms and Future Challenges

“…In 2017, Yuan et al demonstrated that robots' tooth preparation skills, such as laminate veneer and crowns preparations, are as accurate as those of human dentists [76]. Recently, a mobile wire-bending machine was introduced, which is capable of creating a fixed orthodontic retainer wire by means of intraoral scan data in only four minutes [77]. Another remarkable opportunity enabled by robotics is computer-assisted surgery.…”

“…The guidance to the dentist is realized by the device position projecting onto the digital image of the anatomic area of interest, providing help in real-time to follow the anticipated pathways and allowing the doctor to recognize possible interference with the neighbouring tissues. Currently, the most commonly used optical tracking systems are based on capturing the position of a series of light-emitting diodes mounted on a surgical device [77]. In the future, virtual robotic surgery will allow surgeons to operate patients in a different location.…”

Prevalence of Spacing Malocclusion in Local Population Visiting a Dental College

“…[18] Our team has extensive knowledge and research experience that has translated into high quality publications. [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31]- [35] [36], [37], [38] This study aims at finding the prevalence of spacing in a specific South Indian population.…”