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cone beam – international magazine of cone beam dentistry

special _ digital technologies I I 09cone beam3_2015 Fig. 2_Digital design of CAD/CAM-FDP framework. Fig. 3_Full-ceramic reconstructions. _Revolution or evolution? Despitethesedevelopments,manycolleaguesdo not consider a computer a helping advice in their dailyroutine.Anydigitalisationofacertainpractice area needs a modification and adaption of the whole team’s workflow, depending on the scope of digitalisation. This requires a large effort of all em- ployees involved, the willingness to learn from ear- lier mistakes and to keep pace with the progressing digital technologies. One thing is certain: Innova- tions in dental medicine do occur more often and faster nowadays. Therefore, revolution or evolution doesnotdependonthegivendigitalpossibilitiesbut rather on the individual experience and know-how. In dental medicine, computer technology is no more a real technological revolution. Virtual im- plant-planning based on volume tomography has facilitated the decision making and information for apatientforquitesometimenow(Fig.1).Computer- assisted implant placing occurs with high precision inpartiallyorfullyedentulouspatients.1 Here,theso- calledbackwardplanningensuresahighlevelofpre- dictability of the surgical and prosthetic result. The surgical realisation of the 3-D planning with stere- olithographic splints is an important advancement in complex cases and can contribute to less invasive and rapid proceedings in selected cases. By this, one canpreciselydeterminewhetheracompletely“flap- less” procedure is possible for single or all planned implants in the jaw and which augmentative tech- niqueisindicated.2 Especiallyforolderpatientswith relativelymoreriskswhenimplanting,awell-planned, minimally-invasiveproceedingwithashortenedop- eration time is of advantage.3, 4 Additionally, the digitalised anatomical and prosthetic conditions can be analysed virtually and with the help of clearly-formulated criteria contributetothedecisionmakingincaseofeither fixed or removable implant-borne reconstruc- tions.5 It has turned out that the proportion of bone in the upper jaw is clinically often over- estimated.6 According to the characteristics of an atrophy of the alveolar ridge, the prosthetic- oriented planning will control the implant posi- tioning and type of reconstruction of the opera- tion virtually in advance. Fig. 2 Fig. 3

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