A New World of Dental Materials
Posted Apr 28, 2011 in Management
We'll continue to see increasing use of digital technology until, ultimately, every fabrication step is done on the computer.
The dentist will scan the patient's mouth with an intraoral camera to generate a digital impression, use a digital facebow to check occlusion and record movements, create a digital bite registration and take the shade using a digital shade-taking system. The laboratory will work with that digital data to create the opposing dentition, a virtual articulator and the final restoration. Technicians will know exactly what the dentist wants in terms of function, shape and esthetics; this completely digital process will eliminate the need for physical impressions and solid casts and remove much of the guesswork between the dental team members.
All of these elements are here now but what's needed to make it more of a reality are advances in virtual articulation software. Manufacturers are working on these developments...
