Miami company develops robot to take guesswork out of dental surgery
Robots are helping with dental surgeries in some South Florida dental offices, and a company based in Miami created a new robotic dental assistant that's taking much of the guesswork out of those dental implants.
Jorge Curebelo was expecting to get two dental implants, but he didn't know that robots would be doing the heavy lifting.
"It's the newest technology," he said in an interview translated from Spanish to English. "I'm excited about that."
"What's she's doing right now is she's putting on this link to attach the patient to the robot, so the robot knows where the patient is," Dr. Reinol Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez's office is using Yomi, which is more than a steady hand.
It's a robot that can map out a treatment plan in minutes with some basic X-rays. The company behind it is Neocis, and it's based in Miami.
The company says Yomi robots are the only of its kind to have FDA approval.
Gonzalez says it's more precise and takes less time to do implants this way.
"The healing time is a lot less and really there's no pain involved," Gonzalez said. "I don't have to open him up and cut the gums the way I would normally do."
He uploads the X-rays in Yomi, and it helps him line up where the implants will go.
"I'm gonna move this X-ray over here," Gonzalez said.
So when the patient is numb and it's time to bore a hole, the machine knows where to go. And it knows how deep to drill.
Like any good assistant, it's ready when it hears its name.
"The depth that I planned," Gonzalez said. "It doesn't let me go any further. It stops me right there."
Curebelo got a little nervous once he saw the robot with a drill. But he said that fear went away quickly.
"I was a bit nervous because it's my first experience," he said. "I felt nothing I felt great. The doctor's hands were really good and the equipment for the job was wonderful."
Gonzalez said this Yomi robot is just for implants for now, but he said it could be used for other services like crowns and fillings in the future.
Right now, Neocis said 25 doctors in Florida use the Yomi robot and 16 of them are here in South Florida.