CAD/CAM - international magazine of digital dentistry

10 I I case report _ crown fabrication _Today’s computer-aided design and manu- facture (CAD/CAM) technologies contribute greatly to restorative dentistry and provide clinicians with advancedtreatmentoptionsforvariousindications, including inlays, onlays, fixed partial dentures and full dentures, thin veneers and crowns.1,2 These sys- tems also allow use of many restorative materials, including metal, metal-ceramic, composite and all- ceramic, to best meet the needs of the case and pa- tient.1,2 Further, CAD/CAM systems are available for both chairside and laboratory applications, so den- tists now have the ability to create highly aesthetic and strong restorations in office.1,2 Unlike earlier generations of in-office systems that presented clinical challenges, today’s technol- ogy and materials are cost effective and efficient. Past systems lacked advanced software to control the tool path accurately and design a restoration, and inadequate scanning technology made it diffi- cult to detect the delicate margins created during tooth preparation.1,3 The lack of advanced material sciences also contributed to a number of clinical challenges experienced with early CAD/CAM tech- nology, and dentists struggled to properly seat CAD/CAM-processed restorations. To address the clinicalchallengesexperiencedwithearlyCAD/CAM technology, manufacturers have developed sys- temsthatoffermanyadvantages,includinggreater cost effectiveness, simplicity and efficiency.1,4 _The CEREC system Amongst this new generation of CAD/CAM systems is CEREC (Sirona), which was developed to address many concerns dental professionals had regarding the set-up of conventional CAD/CAM software and machines.5,6 The milling chamber is now separated from the image capture and design hardware, allowing dental professionals to simul- taneously design one restoration while milling another.5,6 With significantly higher speeds and greatermemory,CEREC3-Ddesignsoftwareallows users to view tooth designs as they would if evalu- ating traditional stone models.5,6 Today’s CEREC system includes a light-emitting diode (LED) camera (CEREC Bluecam, Sirona) for greater accuracy and higher quality images than previousinfrared-emittingcamerasystems,andthe recent addition of CEREC Connect (Sirona) allows impression and restoration information to be digi- tally acquired and transmitted over the Internet to dental laboratories.5,6 Laboratories can then fabri- cate restorations using the CEREC inLab System (Sirona).5,6 CAD/CAM 3_2011 Fig. 1_The patient presents after undergoing endodontic treatment one week earlier. Fig. 2_Temporary material remains on tooth #13. Additionally, decay and tobacco stains are noted on the adjacent teeth. Figs. 3 & 4_Tooth #13 after preparation. Simple and efficient crown fabrication with an advanced CAD/CAM system Author_ Dr Brian Buehler, USA Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4