Applications of robotics in dentistry and medicine - A review.

Abstract

Purpose: The present review paper deals with the various and vast applications of robots and the discipline of robotics, by highlighting the variations in the design and configuration of robots and focusing a glimpse on the molecular level systems.

Data Sources: The electronic databases (PubMed), ClinicalTrials.gov, EBSCO (dentistry and open science access), Scopus, Web of Sciences, Cochrane database were searched to retrieve all data related to Nanotechnology and Dentistry and Medicine.

Study Selection: The grey literature (Google scholar) was searched on 18^th September 2021 and updated till 15^th October 2022. The following keywords were utilized for data collection: “Nanotechnology OR “[All Fields] AND “DENTISTRY” [All Fields]. The search was complemented by hand-searching of the reference lists of included articles and performing a citation search for any additional reviews. Articles written only English were included.

Data extraction: All invitro, and in vivo studies including observational studies (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional), experimental and randomized and non-randomized analytical studies in humans or animals, letters to the editor or case series (with any patient-related information or data), case reports, literature reviews, editorials, book reviews were reviewed. The results of the searches run on the above-mentioned databases were compiled in the Mendeley reference manager (version 1.19.4) and duplicates were removed. Two members of the team (A.B, R.R) independently screened the articles to exclude those that do not meet the eligibility criteria.  

 Results: With the advent of technology, the new era has witnessed an amalgamation of nano-robotic devices and the macro-world. There might be an existence of subtle scale differences in the working algorithm of nano & micro robots, but many similarities exist between the design, software, and working principle of these two robotic systems.

Conclusion: This review paper gives a projection of the two main types of robotic algorithms and the same is illustrated with relevant examples. The applications of nano-robotic systems are vast and widespread. The literature review shows only a few papers discussing the configuration of these nano-robots and listing the same applications in medicine and dentistry. Hence, this paper focuses on the applications in medicine and dentistry.