I'm not bothered by any of these concerns, none of them are more important than cheap dental care because bad teeth and gums are agony that may lead to heart disease or cancers. The only thing I'm concerned about other than costs are failsafes. If the thing (or rather the 20th generation of the thing) can be absolutely guaranteed not to cause a disaster in someone's mouth (it should panic on the most minor confusion), and is cheaper than dentists (not hard) it should be made standard.
If somebody needs a dentist to hold their hand, they can go to a fancy clinic that has some sort of doula. But normal people used to get their dentistry done by the same guy who would cut their hair.
> I'm not bothered by any of these concerns, none of them are more important than cheap dental care.
Is there really any indication that this will make any change to the cost of dental care? Is the dentists the problem or is it the other parts? There still has to be someone there to manage it.
Also this machine will not be cheap either, will require maintenance, etc. From what I have seen most robot operated medical things, are not to replace jobs but for precision that humans just can't do. Or to reduce human error.
> But normal people used to get their dentistry done by the same guy who would cut their hair.
I would strongly advise against saying "normal" when dental anxiety is very much a thing for many people. I would likely even say most people have some sort of dental anxiety.
There is a reason that a lot of people don't get their regular cleanings, and I am sure cost is part of that but not all of it.
I mostly agree with you, but note that “absolutely guaranteed” to not have a terrible outcome is not something human practitioners provide. The standard should be comparable.
If somebody needs a dentist to hold their hand, they can go to a fancy clinic that has some sort of doula. But normal people used to get their dentistry done by the same guy who would cut their hair.