Now, These Micro Robots will Even Brush and Floss Your Teeth for You!

These avant-garde micro robots will now automate brushing and flossing for humans

Using bigger robots might not always be the right way to go, hence, researchers are building more variants of micro robots to enable humans to perform more intricate and critical tasks. They imagine that someday a swarm of insect-sized robots might pollinate a field of crops or even search for survivors amidst adverse destruction. MIT researchers have claimed that diminutive drones that can move around like a bug, with the same agility and resilience, can eventually perform tasks with far more efficiency than bigger robots could. Researchers are now building a fabrication technique that will actually enable them to build soft actuators that offer over 80% accuracy in yielding results. But robots are not just being used to perform critical tasks, humans are using these evolving technologies to perform some of the most basic tasks like brushing or flossing!

With the emergence of this new technology, hands-free toothbrushing might just become the new trend. This is one of the craziest robotics innovations which can do three regular tasks that humans can in a single, hands-free, and automated manner. According to the researchers, these micro robots are made of iron oxide nanoparticles and are controlled by a magnetic field, which basically tends to change with changing motion and configuration to form bristles that brush plaque from teeth or long and narrow strings that can floss between them. Whichever form these bristles take, the nanoparticles will produce antimicrobial agents that will kill harmful oral bacteria.

Tech experts predict that this system will actually be highly beneficial for the elderly, the disabled, and others with reduced dexterity to maintain their oral health. The system is extremely flexible and can be personalized for all kinds of mouth shapes and teeth. However, it is still unclear whether the technology will make it to the market or not since the FDA is yet to approve the use of microbots for other medical purposes.