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14 Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | May - June 2014lab tribune One step further with CAD/CAM ByDrStevenSoo,Singapore C AD/CAM methods for conventional dental and implant-borne prostheses have gained popularity for a va- riety of reasons. Despite many advantages in terms of cost and convenience, the uptake of this relatively new technology is slow, hinting at a reluctance to try something new. Many, if not most, clinicians still choose to have fixed implant- borne multi-unit prostheses fab- ricated by traditional methods of casting and veneering pre- cious metal alloys. However, the associated high technical and material costs may be prohibi- tive to the group of patients who need this treatment modality the most. To this end, more cost- effective alloys, including base metal alloys, have been cast and veneered with a variety of tooth- coloured materials with good success. CAD/CAM takes this one step further. In fact, materi- als such as zirconia, which has revolutionised dental prosthe- ses, would not be in use were it not for CAD/CAM. There has been much discus- sion around the problem of achieving passivity of fit, the lack of which, it has been pos- tulated, can contribute to me- chanical and biological compli- cations. The multiple steps and materials used in impression taking, casting a working model, producing a wax pattern, casting in metal alloy then veneering in tooth-coloured material all lead to a certain degree of misfit. CAD/CAM can help to address this common problem. The use of digital dentistry is more com- mon than clinicians might think, as the laboratory processes in- volved have already been widely implemented and dental techni- cians can take the credit for driv- ing the use of the technology for- wards. The next step is to adopt digital technology to replace some of the clinical steps in fab- ricating a prosthesis, namely the impression stage, which leads to production of a working cast. These steps can introduce cu- mulative inaccuracies, as well as consume a variety of materi- als that are then discarded. In addition, there are time-savings to be made, perhaps not in the initial stages of learning and integrating new technology, CAD/CAM solutions, such as Planmeca’s PlanCAD Easy, are becoming more widely accepted in dental practice. (Photo courtesy of Planmeca) Straumann abutments now available to 3Shape software users ByDentalTribuneInternational C OPENHAGEN, Den- mark/BASEL, Swit- zerland: Global implant manufacturer Straumann and CAD/CAM software provider 3Shape have been working to- gether to integrate Straumann CARES libraries into 3Shape’s software. Yesterday, the new software function was made available to 3Shape software users, enabling them to design and order customised zirconia or titanium abutments with Straumann original implant connections. Using the new software capa- bilities, dental technicians who use the 3Shape Dental System software can design abutments and a range of customised pros- thetics, including cobalt–chro- mium alloy, zirconium dioxide, and various full contour ma- terials. These can be ordered with an original Straumann connection. “Many laboratories are stead- fast users of both the 3Shape Dental System and Straumann abutments. Now, they can de- sign highly aesthetic and func- tional customised abutments and send them directly for manufacturing at Straumann— thereby introducing a wider range of choices for dentists and their patients,” explained Flemming Thorup, President and CEO of 3Shape. “In addition, 3Shape customers are now able to connect with Straumann dentists and, thus expand their business oppor- tunities,” Frank Hemm, Execu- tive Vice-President of Customer Solutions and Education at Straumann, added. 3Shape users who wish to ben- efit from this opportunity may contact Straumann for infor- mation on obtaining the librar- ies. However, availability will depend on the specific system configurations, the companies stated. but, once familiar with the sys- tems involved, all will benefit from the improved and efficient workflow. My presentation at the Dental Tribune Study Club Sympo- sium highlighted some of the advantages and disadvantages of CAD/CAM. My goal was to enable clinicians to see how it might become more widely ac- cepted in their daily practice and remove some of their res- ervations. The next generation of dentists will hopefully come to view traditional methods of manufacturing dental prosthe- ses in the same way as we now view fixed partial dentures as a way to replace missing teeth be- fore implants. Having received his dental de- gree from the University of Liv- erpool in the UK, Dr Steven Soo now works as a dental special- ist in prosthodontics at Special- ist Dental Group in Singapore. During IDEM, he presented a lecture on the benefits of CAD/ CAM technology for dental im- plant and restorative procedures at the Dental Tribune Study Club Symposium on Level 6 at Suntec City.