The smart dental chair measures the patient's level of fear and pain

Does the dentist have to be an experienced psychologist in order to understand the mental state of his patient during the treatment procedure, or let the latter give him signs? The Center for Precision Dentistry at Columbia University decided to transfer this function to equipment, specifically - a new "smart" chair, which will analyze the patient's stress level. The prototype will start testing in the very near future.

Already today, visitors to this center are given out bracelets with RFID tags, with the help of which all movements and manipulations of the patient during treatment are monitored. How many times did he ask to go to the toilet, how long did he sit in a chair, what tools the doctor had to use more often than others, how many seconds it took to carry out a typical procedure, etc. An array of data that will help to compile an individual patient profile and choose the best treatment option.

In a few months, a new instrument, a chair with heart rate monitors and oxygen level sensors in human blood, will start working here. They will help to accurately identify when the patient begins to worry, to distinguish between weak stress and strong stress and correlate all this with the actions of the doctor. You will not have to wave your hands and howl in the uterus from pain, the signal to the dentist will come automatically. And in the future, there will also be a camera with an emotion recognition function for greater accuracy in analyzing the situation.

And this is just the beginning - a visit to the dentist is always stressful, but measuring its value will give doctors information about the general condition of the patient, potential neuroses and problems with other organs. Already today, an experienced dentist can give advice on the condition of a person's teeth to be tested for diabetes or cancer. And if a set of “smart tools” helps him, a visit to the dental office will give a qualitatively different result.