Int J Comput Dent. 2023 May 26;26(2):167-174. doi: 10.3290/j.ijcd.b3762767.
The aim of the present study was to compare the performance of a tactile collaborative robot programmed by a dental professional (DP) with that of a DP in the removal of surrogate plaque in vitro.
Six typodont teeth in articulated jaws were covered with surrogate plaque and cleaned by a DP with the help of a manual toothbrush (DP/manual) and an electric toothbrush (DP/electric). The experiment was repeated with the help of a collaborative seven-axis tactile robot programmed by a DP handling a manual toothbrush (robot/manual) and an electric toothbrush (robot/electric). All experiments were repeated five times, resulting in a total of N = 30 teeth in each group. Cleaning results were reported as the percentage of surface area with residual plaque.
The cleaning results of the DP and the robot showed no significant differences. However, electric toothbrushing was significantly less effective compared with manual toothbrushing (P < 0.05).
The present in vitro study indicates that current robot technology may perform the removal of surrogate plaque as efficiently as a DP. In future, this may be helpful to release nursing staff from this time-demanding task that could possibly cause contagion or to support people with reduced motor skills or impaired vision in performing daily oral hygiene.
本研究旨在比较由牙科专业人员（DP）编程的触觉协作机器人与 DP 在体外去除替代菌斑的性能。
六个在铰接颌上的仿人头牙被替代菌斑覆盖，并由 DP 使用手动牙刷（DP/manual）和电动牙刷（DP/electric）进行清洁。实验在 DP 操作手动牙刷（机器人/manual）和电动牙刷（机器人/electric）的协作七轴触觉机器人的帮助下重复进行。所有实验重复五次，每组共有 N = 30 颗牙齿。清洁结果以残留菌斑表面积的百分比报告。
DP 和机器人的清洁结果没有显著差异。然而，与手动牙刷相比，电动牙刷的效果明显较差（P < 0.05）。
本体外研究表明，当前的机器人技术可能能够像 DP 一样有效地去除替代菌斑。将来，这可能有助于将护理人员从这项耗时的任务中解放出来，这些任务可能会导致传染，或者帮助运动技能降低或视力受损的人进行日常口腔卫生。
