Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | April 2015a8 INDUSTRY CLINICAL Bar and counterbar system with composite veneering illustrates interaction of analog and digital dentistry By Giuliano Bonato, Dental lab owner, Italy At times, dentists send my dental lab a prototype (a copy of the provisional item tested in the patient’s mouth), asking us to finalize it and make a definitive product. It is interesting in such cases to see how man- ual finishing skills intersect and integrate with advanced digital tools and machines — confirming that the “mouse operator” also needs a solid background as a “dental technician.” Early concerns that machines would ulti- mately deprive dental technicians of their central role have given way to acknowl- edgementthatthedentaltechnician’shand is essential, especially in complex work re- quiring precision and customizing — at least for the immediate foreseeable future. Only a dental technician’s mind can easi- ly switch between digital and manual tasks to produce — with the dentist — high- quality products suited to the final and primary goal: preservation of the patient’s oral health. The following case highlights this in- teraction between manual work and now-essential CAD/CAM systems. The case is not unusual: Lab assistance was re- quested of us after implant of a provisional prosthesis that was made by another labo- ratory. The request was for a final prosthe- sis with a primary bar in titanium, screwed onto implants, and a counterbar, also in ti- tanium, with retention clips. The specialist requested composite veneering material. After a master model was developed, we then improved proportional aspects, align- ment of the teeth and esthetics of the prod- uct wherever possible. Everything was “re- corded” via a silicone mask, packed inside a verticulator system (Fig. 1). This “recording” enables us to store, with accuracy and repeatability, the shape and volume of the product. Through the mask on the verticulator, we mold an acrylic (or composite for a provisional item) dupli- cate on the model. In the latter case, the milling enables discarding of the neces- sary amount of volume, creating the right design for a suitable support for future ve- neering with a composite esthetic material. The resulting prototype was sent to the milling center to be scanned — and using an innovative technique — “virtually di- vided” into a primary bar and a counterbar, adding retention clips in a single file (Fig. 2). This ability with CAD/CAM to design, pro- duce and mill the two units at the same time, on the same titanium disc, achieves excellent coupling precision. Fig. 3Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Figs. 4, 5 Figs. 6–8 Figs. 9–11 Fig. 12 Figs. 13-15 Figs. 16, 17 Fig. 18 Fig. 19 CDA BOOTH NO. 2155 Ad Photos/ Provided by Giuliano Bonato

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

Pages Overview