Study on the multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot for complete denture manufacturing

PurposeIt is not an easy and simple task to manufacture a complete denture with high quality. Traditionally, it often needs a medical expert with experience and hand‐on skill, due to the manual way of denture manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to implement the multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot system that can fully automate the denture manufacturing process.Design/methodology/approachA novel complete denture manufacturing mechanism is designed, which is based on the multi‐manipulator and dental arch generator. The visual tooth‐arrangement and robot control software is developed in VC++6.0. Preliminary experiments on tooth‐arrangement have been conducted using the proposed multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot prototype system.FindingsThe multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot prototype system can automatically design and manufacture a set of complete denture that fit a patient by visual tooth‐arrangement and robot control software according to the patient's jaw arch parameters.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication of research is that it is feasible that the manufacture strategy of complete denture fulfilled by multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot. The limitation of research is that it is difficult to realize coordinate control.Originality/valueThe traditional manual method which makes complete denture by medical personal experience will be changed after the multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot system is manufactured, and adjustment to each tooth position and orientation will be realized by this system.