CAD/CAM - international magazine of digital dentistry

_The concept of digital study models has often been talked about, particularly in ortho- dontic circles, as a solution to the considerable physical space required to store plaster models. If a model could be scanned in three dimensions to a high degree of accuracy, stored electronically and then reconstituted should the need arise some time in the future, then the need for physical storage of models could potentially be eliminated. While there has been talk of this, little in the way of real solutions have been available. Study modelscanningservicesexistbutoftenifyoulook at the fine print in their terms and conditions, you may not even own the scans of your own models! A more practical alternative is to be able to scan study models in your own laboratory rather than sending them out to be scanned by a third party. Digital models have many advantages. They are easy to make, inexpensive, very accurate, cost very little to store and transportation is a breeze. Amazingly, you can store over 800 sets of models on one DVD-R disc or an average 500 GB hard drive could hold a staggering 100,000 sets of models! Much better than rooms and rooms full of study models. I industry report _ digital dental equipment & software Fig. 1_Maestro 3D Dental Scanner. Fig. 2_An example of MMR (Maxillary and Mandibular relationship) scanning. Fig. 3_An example of impression scanning. 32 I CAD/CAM 2_2014 Maestro Scanner system Author_Terence Whitty, Australia Fig. 2Fig. 1 Fig. 3 CAD0214_32-34_Whitty 13.05.14 11:22 Seite 1