CAD/CAM - international magazine of digital dentistry

10 I I special _ dental innovations _Dentistry has come a long way since our col- leagues were forced to use foot powered drills and mix amalgam from its bare components. Modern day dental equipment and materials are at the cutting edge of medical and dental innovation, and it’s trade shows such as the International Dental Show(IDS)wherethedevelopmentsofthefutureare announced.Moderndentistsnolongerhavemerely a straight probe and a dental drill at their disposal. We now have scans, 3-D images, growth factors and an almost unlimited choice of materials avail- able to use. Inwritingthispiece,Imadeatoughdecisiontofo- cus on what I believe to be key areas of dental inno- vation.Itisintheseareasofimaging,CAD/CAMtech- nology and growth factors that I believe are going to be important in the dental surgery of the future. _CAD/CAM Computer-aided design/computer-aided man- ufacturinghashadapresenceindentistryfornearly 20years.However,itisonlyinthelasttenyearsthat developments have really made a difference in the reliability, ease of use and functionality of these devices. We now have CAD/CAM machines (e.g., CEREC, iTero, Lava) that can scan an entire arch, design and fabricate all-ceramic restorations in the practice.ThepopularityofchairsideCAD/CAMunits has never been greater. The materials that we are able to use in conjunction with CAD/CAM scanners have gone from monolithic, one shade blocks to multi-layered, all-ceramic, lithium-disilicate con- structions that can be sintered and finalised in as little as 15 minutes. The appearance of these restorations, although still needing a well-trained (and artistic) dentist, could be said to be on par with certain lab-based fabrications whilst maintaining the advantages of being a chairside single visit restoration. CAD/CAM technology is now almost universally used in the fabrication of dental implant abutments and bars, reducing construction times, designs and fit. Den- tists are now beginning to use chairside CAD/CAM CAD/CAM 2_2013 Photos courtesy of Dr Nilesh R. Parmar, UK CAD/CAM and growth factors—Key areas of dental innovation Author_ Dr Nilesh R. Parmar, UK Fig. 2Fig. 1