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Why go Digital?
CAD/CAM technology and metal-free materials are used by dentists and dental laboratories to provide patients with milled ceramic crowns, veneers, onlays, inlays and bridges. Dental CAD/CAM also is used to fabricate abutments for dental implants, used to replace missing teeth.
As the materials and technology available for CAD/CAM dentistry have improved over the years, so too have the restorations that patients can receive from this form of digital dentistry. Today’s CAD/CAM restorations are better-fitting, more durable and more natural looking (multi-colored and translucent, similar to natural teeth) than previously machined restorations.
In-Office and Dental Laboratory CAD/CAM Options
Dental CAD/CAM technology is available for dental practices and dental laboratories, enabling dentists and their staff (or a laboratory technician) to design restorations on a computer screen. The CAD/CAM computer displays a 3-D custom image of your prepared tooth or teeth obtained by digitally capturing the preparations with an optical scanner. Alternatively, the 3-D images can be obtained by scanning a traditional model obtained from conventional impressions of the preparations.
The dentist or laboratory technician then uses those 3-D images and CAD software to draw and design the final restoration. The amount of time it takes for a dentist, in-office restoration designer or laboratory technician to design a restoration varies based on skill, experience, and complexity of case and treatment. Some cases could take minutes, while others could require a half-hour or more of design time to ensure quality.
Once the final restoration is designed, the crown, inlay, onlay, veneer or bridge is milled from a single block of ceramic material in a milling chamber. The restoration then can be customized with stains and glazes to create a more natural look, before being fired in an oven (similar to ceramics and pottery), and then finished and polished.
Benefits of CAD/CAM Dentistry
Research suggests that today’s milled CAD/CAM restorations are stronger than those milled from earlier materials. They also are less likely to fracture.
The all-ceramic bridge is created in a laboratory using the CAD/CAM technology. All-ceramic bridge restorations require a second office visit to insert the bridge. In such cases, a temporary restoration would be necessary.
Credit: Consumer Guide to Dentistry https://www.yourdentistryguide.com/cad-cam-tech/