The dawn of the robotic era in dentistry

Robotic assistance is fast becoming a standard of care across surgical disciplines, used to help treat over 1 million patients every year. Robotic surgery has been seen to enhance and augment surgical practice across many specialties, enabling virtual procedure planning, augmented anatomical visualization, guided instrument placement, clinical insights, and user ergonomics not available with standard procedures.

Yomi^® by Neocis is the first and only FDA-cleared robotic device for dental implant surgery. It is designed to bring the benefits of robotic assistance to dental implant surgery, promoting thriving dental practices and beautiful smiles. Unique to Yomi in dentistry are the provided physical cues that guide the dental surgeon’s hand to the precise angulation and location for the planned osteotomy. Once in position, Yomi securely maintains handpiece trajectory, preventing unintended deviation from the plan. Should the patient move, Yomi tracks and follows patient motion. When the drill bit reaches planned depth, Yomi provides the dental surgeon with the solid confidence of a physical “hard stop.”

There are over 50 Yomi-enabled practices in the United States, putting Yomi in the hands of leading dental surgeons who share the desire to elevate their dental practices and bring a new level of care to dental implant surgery.

Oral surgeons Bradley Pinker, DDS, MD, and Roger R. Thayer, DMD, MA, share their experience with the Yomi^® Robotic System. Here’s what they had to say.

Tell us about yourself and your practice

Dr. Pinker: I am Bradley Pinker, DDS, MD, a Board-certified Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at Florida Oral & Facial Surgical Associates. We have a total of three offices (Daytona Beach, Palm Coast, and New Smyrna Beach, Florida). I have been in practice for approximately 3 years. The scope of our practice includes dentoalveolar surgery, implant surgery, benign pathology, facial trauma, orthognathic surgery, some TMJ procedures, and cosmetic surgery. We are affiliated with Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Dr. Thayer: I graduated from dental school in 2004 and completed my residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from Nova Southeastern University/Broward General Medical Center in 2011. It was also my privilege to serve in the U.S. Navy as a Dental Officer at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. I have been in private practice since 2011 at Florida Oral & Facial Surgical Associates in Daytona Beach Florida. In our community, our office has been an icon for providing exceptional full-scope oral and maxillofacial surgical services for over 60 years.

What is Yomi?

Dr. Pinker: Our practice has been using Yomi for over 2 years. Yomi is essentially a hand-assisted/guided robot that allows the surgeon to place a dental implant in a planned position using a preoperative cone beam CT.

Dr. Thayer: Yomi is an innovative technology that can enable minimally invasive techniques to place dental implants with precision, which results in less discomfort to the patient.

What made you decide to add the Yomi robot to your practice?

Dr. Pinker: At Florida Oral & Facial Surgical Associates, our mission statement includes the incorporation of the latest technology in our practice to give our patients the best clinical outcomes and experience. The advances in the technology of the Yomi robot closely align with our mission statement.

Dr. Thayer: Our office has been at the forefront of incorporating technology in a state-of-the-art environment for providing innovative full-scope oral and maxillofacial surgical services for our patients for over 60 years. Yomi is a perfect addition to our office as it helps us provide exceptional and precise results in the placement of dental implants. Our referring doctors love our results because it helps them restore the implants with crowns and dentures with ease and provides the best outcome for the patients.

What has Yomi done for you as a clinician?

Dr. Pinker: Yomi has allowed me to collaborate with other dentists easily regarding planning cases. It has allowed me to place same-day implants without a surgical guide. It has improved several of my patient outcomes due to performing the surgeries flapless and accessing areas of the mouth with limited visibility. It saves a great deal of time when placing multiple implants for locators or for fixed hybrid restorations.

Dr. Thayer: As a surgeon, I strive to provide the best treatment and results for our patients. Yomi allows us to provide a minimally invasive and flapless surgical approach in placing dental implants. The patients benefit because there are excellent esthetic results, less surgical site discomfort, and faster recovery. This is especially true in patients with compromised bone anatomy as I can place these implants, as if I am threading a needle, with precision.

What is your favorite aspect of being a robotic clinician?

Dr. Pinker: Being able to provide the latest technology to our patients to help speed up their recovery with a goal of improving outcomes. Not to mention, the surgical procedure is more fun using the robot.

Dr. Thayer: We enjoy using Yomi in our practice because it is a beneficial and innovative way to place dental implants. It assists us in providing our patients the best results with minimal discomfort and faster recovery. We have the ability to preplan the implant on the 3D software, which incorporates placing the implant, abutment, and the crown prior to the procedure. We can share and discuss the images with the dentists and get their recommendations and input prior to placing the implant.

What method(s) were you using to perform implant procedures before Yomi, and what would you say to a peer using that method now that you have Yomi?

Dr. Pinker: I typically placed implants with a surgical guide or freehanded. I have learned in practice that surgical guides may not be the most accurate after converting digital data obtained from an intraoral scan or cone beam CT scan to an analog-printed guide. The access to second molar sites and the visualization is much easier with Yomi.

Dr. Thayer: In many cases, I used to open a flap at the surgical site to visualize the bone and place the implants. We also used surgical guides, especially for full-arch cases. There were many times that the implant placement was not as precise because the surgical guide concealed the direct visualization and the ability to accurately use direction indicators and, most importantly, to correct and make changes intraoperatively. Yomi removes these obstacles and helps us achieve the best results in our practice for our patients. I can change the position of the osteotomy intraoperatively, feel the density of the bone, and have direct visualization of the patient and the operative site.

How would you describe the learning curve for the Yomi robotic system?

Dr. Pinker: Initially challenging when the technology was in its infancy, but with the advances of the robotic technology (both hardware and software) over the past 2 years, the steepness of the learning curve continues to decrease.

Dr. Thayer: We have been using Yomi for the past 2 years, and the technology, both the hardware and software, has improved significantly. The learning curve gets easier as the surgeon and the team place more implants. It has become a routine part of the day. Our Yomi support team — from the CEO to the clinical support team and the countless engineers — have become a major part of our robotic family. Their support and constant pursuit of perfection in improving the robotic system and technology help the surgeon and the patient experience better outcomes. Finally, you must have a team of assistants who embrace this technology and are excited to help place the implants using Yomi. I am fortunate to have my assistants Kathy, Carol, Jill, and Katrina; without them, I would not be able to use Yomi to its full potential.

What are your patients saying about Yomi?

Dr. Pinker: In general, they are experiencing a faster recovery and reduced pain postoperatively. I attribute this to minimizing actual surgical time and many times being able to perform placement of the implants using a flapless technique.

Dr. Thayer: They are very receptive and amazed about this new forefront in dental robotics and technology. Our patients have shared their positive experiences with their friends and family through social media. One of my patients was discussing their positive experience with friends in New Zealand.

If you would like to learn more about Yomi or schedule a demo to see this technology for yourself, please visit yomirobot.com.

This information was provided by Neocis.