CAD/CAM - international magazine of digital dentistry

14 I I news _ 3-D software _Researchers at Chalmers University of Tech- nology in Gothenburg are currently developing a method to determine exactly how a tooth should be ground down in order to attach a dental crown to it. The method is expected to result in significantly cheaper and faster treatment, with a reduced risk of patients having problems with their crowns. Addi- tionally,theresearchershavedeveloped3-Dsoftware fordentalstudentstolearnhowtogrinddownteeth. Between July 2009 and July 2010, 477,060 dental crown treatments were done in Sweden. Chalmers researchers calculated that the treatments cost morethanUS$258million,ofwhichalargepropor- tion was paid from tax monies through dental health insurance. A crown manufactured in a labo- ratory costs around US$760. When a treatment is necessary, dentists first have to grind down the patients’ teeth to which the crowns are to be attached. This is a handicraft job thatisentirelydependentontheindividualdentist’s eyeandskill.However,accordingtotheSwedishre- searchers, dentists will soon benefit from a com- puter program being developed at the initiative of Nobel Biocare, Swiss-based provider of innovative restorative and aesthetic dental solutions. The re- searchers are now planning to run clinical tests. “With our software, you can feed in the existing tooth’s measurements, done by laser scanning the tooth,” explained Chalmers researcher Evan Shell- shear. “The software then calculates how much of that tooth should be ground down, and the output is a 3-D model of the optimal shape of the tooth. You also get a 3-D animation showing precise sug- gestions for manœuvring the grinding tool in order CAD/CAM 3_2011 Visualisation of a tooth showing the optimal shape that should remain after the tooth has been ground down in order to be fitted with an artificial dental crown. Researchers develop software to improve attachment for dental crowns