Page 50 - Demo

Chapter 348a metallic voice with instructions on oral hygiene. Epidemiological observational research conducted on children exposed to different learning methods evaluated their effect on a plaque index after 30 days compared to a group of children who did not receive any education at all. A comparable initiative is the ‘Robotutor’ brushing robot designed for educating the ‘Bass brushing method’. [99] It consisted of a toothbrush, which is moved by a robot arm alongside dental plaster models and an audio tape with instructions. A questionnaire was used to evaluate its effectiveness. Another initiative in this field was described in a Turkish paper on the effect of a humanoid robot as a distraction method during dental treatment [98]. The same group published the only prospective interventional study found in this review comparing dental anxiety in children with and without distraction by a customized commercially available robot (iRobiQ, Yujin Robot Co., Ltd. Incheon, Korea) [100]. EndodonticsFour articles were included concerning endodontology, published in the years between 2007 and 2012. None of these articles exceeded level two when it comes to technological readiness. Two articles derived from the same research group looked at an endodontic microrobot, with a tool changer to hold or switch instruments [101, 102]. A theoretical model was proposed for the design of a part of a (micro)robot, called an actuator, to enable reliable drilling in the axis of the tooth. To the authors best of knowledge no prototype has been build. In another study, a preliminary visual-guided robot to reduce procedural errors during endodontic treatments was described. Based on image data a robotic-file was controlled in two axes and a single experiment in a laboratory setting was performed showing preliminary results of the system [103]. In the most recent study of this group a design is proposed for an automatic ‘tool vending machine’ to increase work efficiency and to reduce the amount of space needed during treatment [104]. Its goal was to provide dentists automatically with the correct endodontic tools and had the capability of cleaning the tools as well. No working prototype has been described.Dental radiologyOnly two articles were included concerning dental radiology, published in 1991 and 1999 [105, 106]. Both articles derived from the same research group and looked at the possibility of automatic alignment of a robot containing the x-ray source to the patient for the purpose of digital radiographic subtraction. The goal was to replace freehand alignment with non-contact positioning of the x-ray source. Experiments were Tom van Riet.indd 48 26-10-2023 11:59