Shaping the Future of Dental Epidemiology: The Role of Robotics and Automation in Data-driven Oral Healthcare

The incorporation of robotics into dental epidemiology offers a new paradigm in terms of public oral health. Data collection and diagnosis have been traditionally based on human efforts subject to variability in human behavior, inaccuracies via manual methods, as well as access to the patient. Robotic systems are increasingly supplementing data collection and diagnosis in public oral health areas. These systems may vary in type from chairside diagnostic robots, to intraoral scanners, robots as mobile units, as well as educational/simulation robots. For all cases, robotics is associated with a level of precision, standardization, and reach not previously seen in dental or public health care contexts. Robotics provides reproducible oral health assessments, streamlines data collection for research studies, and offers remote diagnostics, especially for communities experiencing inequities in health. Other applications for robotics during clinical diagnostics, oral health status assessments, oral health rehabilitation, education, and surgical treatment procedures for cancers further illustrates the array of utility for robotics for prevention and treatment activities. While benefits are substantial, so too are concerns for safety, cost, quality of training, regulatory governance, and ethics such as data use and security, and human workforce displacement. While the field advances, guidelines for implementing, deploying, managing or administering robotics should be founded on evidence-based policies and participatory design principles to inform equitable, efficient, and safe public self-care options. This review article is intended to provide insight into the current state of dental robotics and the prospective effort to characterise and shape a healthier future for oral public health as a field based on a data-discipline and accessibility.