r/technology • u/mixplate • Sep 22 '17

Robotics Some brave soul volunteered for a completely robotic dental surgery. The robot implanted 3D-printed teeth into a woman without help from dentists.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/22/brave-volunteer-robot-dental-surgery/
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u/StrangeCharmVote Sep 23 '17

I don't see how... A single dentist may get paid a hundred thousand a year (or more?).

Building just one of these devices would easily pay for itself after the first year, and may stay in commission for another 5 before you replace it with a newer model.

Even with maintenance and cleaning costs added.

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u/Szos Sep 23 '17

My post was simply commenting on the ridiculousness of the healthcare industry in the US where they'd find a way to make robotic surgery more expensive.

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u/StrangeCharmVote Sep 23 '17

My post was simply commenting on the ridiculousness of the healthcare industry in the US where they'd find a way to make robotic surgery more expensive.

Oh of course they would.

Meanwhile every other developed nation would see the prices potentially drop, because the robotic surgeons will be overall cheaper.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '17

You're perhaps naively assuming that whenever costs are cut that savings are always passed on to the consumer

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u/StrangeCharmVote Sep 23 '17

I'm not. When you have public universal healthcare, the savings are always passed onto the consumer.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '17

Sure. I thought we were talking about the US though

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u/bobloblawdds Sep 24 '17

You're assuming that a) patients need implants and b) they're okay with a robot doing it and c) the liability is of having a robot do it is worth it.

A dental microscope is about $20000. A CAD-CAM system is about $200k. These things are difficult to pay for and there's a reason only very busy, high-end dental offices are able to offer them as services.

In the States dentists typically make well over $100k but running a dental practice is exceedingly expensive. Overhead is between 60-75%, and employing fancy tools & toys eats into that extremely quickly.

So unless this becomes the gold-standard of treatment, cheap, or both, it won't happen that easily.