Startup completes first fully robotic dental surgery

Perceptive has $30m in funding, including from dentist Ed Zuckerberg, father of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Perceptive, a robotics and AI startup, is building machinery to complete fully automated dental procedures (Perceptive)

A startup claims to have completed the first fully robotic dental procedure on a human.

Last week, Boston firm Perceptive announced it had completed the surgery, using its suite of fully automated dental technologies, which 3D scan a patient’s mouth, use AI to analyze the data, and then employ a series of robotic arms and tools to carry out procedures.

“We’re excited to successfully complete the world’s first fully automated robotic dental procedure,” Dr Chris Ciriello, CEO and founder of Perceptive, said in a statement. “This medical breakthrough enhances precision and efficiency of dental procedures, and democratizes access to better dental care, for improved patient experience and clinical outcomes.”

The procedure, described in company materials as a “tooth cutting,” took place in Barranquilla, Colomba, according to STAT News.

The startup, which has received $30m in funding from Silicon Valley names including Y Combinator and dentist Ed Zuckerberg, father of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is still about five years from US regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration, per the site.

Perceptive, a robotics and AI startup, is building machinery to complete fully automated dental procedures. (Perceptive)

A video of the procedure showed an automated drill arm shaving down portions of a patient’s tooth.

The company says it can replace crowns in about 15 minutes, compared to the two hours it takes most dentists.

Robotic surgery is widely used in other areas of medicine.