Dental Robotics
Category: Robotics / Embodied AI
Korean physical-AI startup building an autonomous robotic arm that automates dental suction (saliva/blood aspiration) to address dental assistant workforce shortages. Dental Robotics was founded in 2024. The company is led by 김남균 (Namgyun Kim). Based in Seoul, South Korea. Team size: 11-50. Latest round: Seed. Key investors include AI Angel Club (lead), C&Tech (씨엔티테크), People Investment (피플인베스트먼트), Digital Healthcare Partners (DHP).
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Team size
- 11-50
Value proposition
Automates the repetitive, skill-intensive dental suction task with an AI-guided 6-axis robotic arm, freeing dental hygienists (who spend ~2.5 hrs/day on suction) and addressing structural dental assistant shortages.
Products and solutions
Autonomous dental suction robot (physical AI, 6-axis arm), DentVLA (dental-specific Vision-Language-Action foundation model for full autonomy), workflow-recognition software subscription, consumables & maintenance. First unveiled at SIDEX 2026 (May).
Unique value
First-mover in fully autonomous dental suction robotics — unlike existing dental robots focused on implant/surgical assistance, it targets chairside clinical-assistant automation, the actual bottleneck in dental clinics.
Target customer
University hospitals and mid-to-large dental clinics (initial pilot supply); later US and European dental markets.
Industries served
Healthcare / Dental care, Medical robotics, Physical AI
Technology advantage
Fuses 3D CBCT + intraoral scanner data to coordinate patient oral space at 100µm accuracy (0.25mm registration accuracy, 98.6% success across 210 cases); vision AI distinguishes saliva/blood/teeth/gums in real time; 50g-sensitivity pressure sensor at end-effector; triple-redundant safety architecture (1ms hardware current cutoff, 5ms software monitoring, supervisory motion planning); designed to IEC 80601-2-77 and ISO 13482 standards.
How they differentiate
Focuses on chairside suction/assistant automation rather than implant or restorative surgery; leverages high CT/intraoral-scanner penetration in dentistry for spatial coordinate mapping; builds a dental-specific VLA foundation model (DentVLA) for full autonomy.
Main competitors
Neocis (Yomi, US — FDA-cleared dental implant surgery robot), Perceptive (US — autonomous restorative dentistry robot), X-Dental Robotics (chairside robotic assistant)
Key partnerships
Korea University Anam Hospital (Prof. 송인석 / Inseok Song, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery) — clinical safety/efficacy validation, Koras Robotics (코라스로보틱스) — technology collaboration on medical robot development.
Major milestones
Founded 2024-06-24, robot first unveiled at SIDEX 2026 (May 2026), clinical validation with Korea University Anam Hospital, seed round led by AI Angel Club (Sep 2026), targeting 2028 commercial launch.
Growth metrics
210-case validation with 98.6% registration success rate; 20 patents filed (4 registered); robot first unveiled at SIDEX 2026 (May).
Market positioning
Early-stage Korean physical-AI medtech startup targeting the underserved dental clinical-assistant automation niche; aims for domestic 2nd-class medical device approval first, then digital medical device and overseas certifications, targeting 2028 commercial launch.
Geographic focus
South Korea (initial), with planned expansion to US and Europe.
Patents and IP
20 patents filed, 4 registered (intraoral marker-based suction robot alignment, abnormal-situation suction response, triple safety architecture, vision-data-based autonomous suction); received high patent evaluation grades.
About 김남균 (Namgyun Kim)
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Specialist; CEO/Director of Yonsei Goodplant Dental Clinic (연세굿플란트치과). Practicing dentist who founded Dental Robotics to solve dental assistant workforce shortage.
Latest news about Dental Robotics
More Robotics / Embodied AI companies
Official website: https://dentalrobotics.co.kr/