For the last three years, Dr. Joe Griffin has been using a robot called Yomi to help with dental implants. His West Knoxville practice was the first in Tennessee to get this robot. It’s intent is to assist dentists in finding the perfect angle and point for implants.

“It controls the angle, depth, and position of the drill. I can’t get off that plan, it won’t let you,” Griffin said.

This allows Griffin to save 30 to 40 minutes of time during the procedure, which is also in part to having to do less cutting. Before, they would have to cut the gum to see exactly where they would put the tooth implant in, but now the robot and it’s mapping does all of that for them so it’s exact. The result is a quicker time in the chair for patients and less pain after less cutting and more accuracy.

“The reality is even the best hands on the planet are going to have some issue no matter we are clinically there’s still the room for human error.” Griffin said.

Griffin says they have used the Yomi robot more than 400 times over the last three years. He believes this technology opens the door for smoother procedures with root canals and other types of dental surgeries.