In Xian, Shaanxi province in China, a robot was able to successfully perform a tooth implant on a patient. While the doctors were present during the procedure, the operation was fully carried out by the robot.

This robot, which was developed by Beihang University in Beijing and the Fourth Military Medical University’s Stomatological Hospital, followed a set of commands to fit the implants into the patient’s mouth and was able to make adjustments as the patient moved.

Dr Zhao Yimin explained that this robot was made to eliminate the human errors performed by real dentists and to compensate for the shortage of dentists in China.

While these robots can help speed up surgeries and help make up for the shortage of doctors, some argue that the operations performed by these robots may not be entirely safe.

In 2015, a US study showed that 144 patient death may be related to the use of machines during operations, although this number is only a tiny portion of the total number of surgeries performed by robots.

Source:www.independent.co.uk
Photo: Robot dentists could eventually replace humans (Getty)