The Next Generation of Dental Students

Japanese students at Showa University have been practicing their dental procedures on a life-like robot. The robot named Hanako is the world's first highly developed robot to be used to evaluate the skills of dental students on a large scale, according to Showa University.

Hanako can dribble a saliva-like liquid, lift her arms, roll her eyes, sneeze, cough, tilt away from the student, move or relax her jaw and tongue, speak, and close her mouth if procedures take too long. Her resin teeth can be removed following the dental procedures so that teachers can assess the student’s performance.
 
Hanako is the world's first highly developed robot to be used to evaluate the skills of dental students on a large scale, according to Showa University. This month 88 of its students trained and took clinical exams using her. The main advantage of Hanako is that it allows students to make mistakes from which they can learn without compromising patient’s safety.