A local dentist is among the first in Central Florida to use a robot to help with dental implant surgery.
Dr. Shovon Kasem of Hancock Village Dental has implemented use of Neocis Inc.'s Yomi Robotic Dental System.
The technology works similarly to a GPS and is used to help with planning and surgery. The goal of the system is to allow for patients to only have to come for one visit instead of multiple visits.
Other dentists in the region who use the same technology include Orlando Oral & Facial Surgery and Florida Oral & Facial Surgical Associates
Use of the system comes as other medical providers in the region use robots in surgery. Both AdventHealth and Orlando Health offer minimally invasive surgeries with the da Vinci robot across several specialties.
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Here, Dr. Kasem spoke with Orlando Business Journal on what motivated him to use the system and more.
What motivated you to use Neocis Inc.'s Yomi Robotic Dental system?
My practice vision is to create the most technologically advanced dental practice in the world. I want patients to experience the highest level of service and quality possible. So, I have invested in the latest and best equipment available, which motivated me to adopt the Yomi system into my workflow. Many of my patients are familiar with robotic surgery and have undergone procedures with the da Vinci robot, so when they see that we are one of the first doctors in the world with similar technology with Yomi, they get really excited and start spreading the word about us.
How does this compare to how you previously worked?
Previously, I was using 3D printers to create surgical guides for my implant procedures. This was time consuming and required a lot of preparation work after hours. Now I am able to complete implants the same day for patients in a way that is so minimally invasive that there aren't any incisions or any pain.
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What were your first impressions of the system?
Yomi is an impressive piece of technology, and also a straightforward piece of technology to use. It allows us to do same-day guided surgery, which gives me a lot of confidence with both my implant placement as well as initial stability. I've been able to take on some more challenging cases with greater certainty than before — which allows me treat more types of patients. It's also really fun to use. I can feel it moving with me, like it is predicting where I want to go and I am sensing where it wants to go.
What challenges did you face with the system?
Robot-assisted surgery is a new approach to implant placement, so like all technology there’s a learning curve to integrate Yomi into the practice. However, our team is familiar with the most cutting-edge digital technology and dental software, so we were able to learn how to use the robot within the first day of training due to our experience with digital dentistry.
Do you expect other local doctors to use the system?
I’m proud to be on the forefront of restorative dentistry and to say I’m the first dental provider in Clermont to offer robot-guided implant placement. It was important for me to jump on this because it improves the standard of care, efficiency and accuracy — so I want to make sure I become known for using Yomi before other providers realize how revolutionary it is. Neocis told me that Yomi robots have completed 50,000 implants so far, so I don’t see a world where everyone doesn’t learn to treat with Yomi. In fact, we will be introducing Yomi to our student dentists this year in our implant training course, where doctors come from all over the country to learn from us.
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