CAD/CAM

Traditional dental labs are today pressured from many sides-in-clinic milling, price competition and regulatory demands all pose serious threats to their future business efforts. Luckily, digital technologies are already providing direct answers to counter these upsetting realities. By going digital, labs can push right back.

The first thing you hear of from some colleagues is usually: Why should I press when I’m much faster with the layering technique?

Our case study patient involves a 50-year-old woman whose case required screw-retained implants to create the most functional and esthetically pleasing implant bridge. Often clinicians will ask about procedure for a case of this nature because they would like to better understand protocol.

Whip Mix has announced it will be holding the third annual Survive or Thrive Digital Forum on October 2 and 3 in Louisville, Ken.

The Lab: Sikes Dental Studios is a full-service lab in Charlotte, N.C., specializing in highly esthetic results for a variety of clients who request a variety of solutions. The lab is small with seven full-time technicians, an office manager and a delivery person on staff.

Though the last few years have seen a significant rise in monolithic restorations made out of materials like zirconia and lithium disilicate, there are plenty of labs that still specialize in PFM restorations-and have the esthetic results to make that choice a viable one.

Delcam has launched the 2014 R2 release of its DentMILL software for the milling of dental implant restorations.

For quite some time, we have been hearing about minimally invasive techniques for the esthetic rehabilitation of the oral cavity. Whether a patient wishes to have stains removed, teeth bleached or the tooth shape and general appearance improved, the range of treatment options is almost unlimited.

Ryan Johnson Chief Technology Officer of DT Technologies, a Division of Dental Arts Laboratories, Inc.

Bryan Couch, DDS, doesn’t mince words when it comes to his experience with digital impressions and in-office CAD/CAM: “It’s the single most important tool I’ve purchased in 29 years of dentistry.”

DPR sat down with Dr. Howard Golan, owner of BIOLASE products, to learn more about how their products are changing the digital workflow. DPR: Why do you feel it’s important to have the best technology in your practice and how do you communicate some of this to your patients?

Strategy Milling©, a division of Atlantic Precious Metal Refining, has unveiled a special Facebook sweepstakes. Currently running on the Strategy Milling Facebook page, the Strategy Milling sweepstakes provides all participants a chance to win three FREE 2% Strategy-milled gold crowns.

Endorsed by the King’s College London Dental Institute, Ivoclar Vivadent recently hosted the International Expert Symposium ‘The Quality of Esthetics’ in London. World-renowned specialists discussed the latest materials and advanced clinical concepts to an audience of 750 delegates.

Roland DGA Corp., a provider of dental CAD/CAM technologies, announced the availability of optional milling burs for the company’s DWX-50 and DWX-4 dental milling machines that allow these devices to mill VITA ENAMIC® hybrid ceramic and 3M™ ESPE™ Lava™ Ultimate CAD/CAM Restorative pin-type blocks.

Whip Mix has introduced Vericore® Gradient Temp Discs for temporary milled restorations. Vericore® Gradient Temp is a multi-layered PMMA material.

At a CAD/CAM media event that took place yesterday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Sirona offered a preview of CEREC software 4.3, which will be available July, 1 2014.

The Zenotec select mill is an extensive CAD/CAM system that is comprised of products and services for the entire digital processing chain. 

There are a large variety of in-office scanning systems out in the market and there seems to be little commonality in how digital files are handled by the dental practice. Core3daCADemy aims to help alleviate this confusion.

In the ever-changing world of dental laboratories and technology, D&S Dental Laboratory in Waunakee, Wis., believes it has found the pathway to continued success by incorporating an all-digital strategy.

Dentists and labs looking to deliver durable, esthetic indirect restorations have plenty of options. One such option is to work with Zirlux to deliver highly esthetic, full-contour restorations.

Perhaps no topic continues to occupy the dental lab world more than trying to successfully navigate the digital revolution. Core3dcentres is a company trying to help labs make that transition smoothly and well. We spoke with Mark Ferguson, the Dental Solutions Integrator at Core3d, about how outsourcing can help labs of all sizes, how labs can go digital even if they don’t have the finances or human power, and how Core3d can help lab techs make the digital leap.  

The dentist doesn’t have time. Dentists are busy people-and adding the time to get a fully esthetic anterior crown to their list of job responsibilities just isn’t realistic for many of them. “There will always be a need for a quality crown,” explains Tra Chambers of Express Dental Laboratory. “Chairside crowns done in 90-minute appointments will never have the same esthetics or quality as a crown created by a professional ceramist over a 40-hour timeframe.”  

For Dr. Laura Sengbusch, delivering outstanding care to the residents of her small community in Southern Wisconsin is the most important aspect of her job.  

Want your lab to move forward and reach new heights of success? ETI Digital Technology wants to help.

Chuck Tagliarino, CDT, is the Technical Vice President of Operations at Sun Dental Labs, located in Clearwater, Fla. He oversees the technical information, equipment design and materials for Sun Dental Labs.

01. Core3dcentres bills itself as a “facilitator of digital relationships” for the dental industry. What do you think Core3dcentres’ role is in the dental lab marketplace? I think Core3dcentres’ Global Mission Statement says it best-“We believe in excellence in dentistry and patient care. By personalizing digital technology, we provide a complete production solution, making the benefits available to everyone, resulting in a partnership for success.”

Sirona Dental, Inc has announced a special incentive for all commercial dental laboratories that complete an in-house demonstration of Sirona’s full line of inLab® CAD/CAM solutions.

Aurident, Inc. now offers the Optimet DS 6000 3D scanner, which reportedly provides several features and benefits for the dental laboratory.

The Planmeca PlanScan, driven by E4D Technologies, is described as an innovative, technologically advanced, ultra-fast intraoral CAD/CAM system for restorative dentistry.

Stratasys Ltd. has introduced two new wax 3D printers, which they say are the highest precision wax printers available to the dental industry.