18 INTERVIEW Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 4/2020 A new solution in the field of digital workflows By OEMUS MEDIA AG In this interview, new Dentalpoint CEO Adrian Hunn talks about the new competence centre for Zeramex Digital Solutions and master dental technician Peter Hölldampf, labora- tory manager at the Germany-based machining centre Geiger Dentalt- echnik, a close partner of Zeramex, discusses material-specific aspects of zirconium dioxide. Mr Hunn, the company Dental- point, which owns the Zeramex brand, opened its new competence centre for Zeramex Digital Solu- tions last year. There are probably at least some users, dental techni- cians and dentists who have not heard of it yet. Can you explain ex- actly what a competence centre is and how the customer can benefit from it? Hunn: The market is demanding new solutions in the field of digital workflows, so it is a logical step for the R&D department at Zeramex to find new ways, approaches and, ultimately, solutions for our two- part and 100% metal- free systems to meet this demand. And our R&D department has done a great job in this regard over the past two years. We are now able to offer fully cus- tomised and 100% metal-free solu- tions from the new Zeramex Digital Solutions competence centre. Our customers now have the possibil- ity of sending digital data to our competence centre by secure data exchange, which enables them to order, for instance, customised abut- ments directly from us. But that is by no means all. Our product portfolio embraces fully customised abut- ments, one-piece monolithic crowns, and custom-made crowns with and without screw holes for ZERABASE abutments, all made to the high- est degree of precision. Whether for restorations of anterior or posterior teeth, we have the perfect solution for each and every situation. In addi- tion, customers can choose to have their crowns ready coloured and glazed. A 3D-printed model can also be produced on request so that the practitioner can check the restora- tion before insertion and show it to the patient as a tangible model. Of course, every order comes as stand- ard with the required 100% metal- free VICARBO screw. In addition to the direct implementation of the orders, our competence centre offers advice in the field of data processing and in the selection of the perfect product for the individual needs of the customer. It has been a few months now since Zeramex Digital Solutions was first launched. How much has the new competence centre appealed to us- ers and how strong is the demand? Hunn: As I pointed out earlier, the ordering process is very simple and uncomplicated and therefore runs very smoothly. This meant that, at start-up, only minor changes to the ordering process were necessary. The simplicity with which custom- ers can get high-quality, customised and, above all, metal-free solutions adapted to the specific gingival situ- ation generated a great deal of very positive interest, combined with the fact that the de- mand for digital solutions is already very great, made it possible for us to achieve an even better start than we expected. Customers and users with whom we have long-standing, close relationships naturally knew about our project at an early stage and were involved in product and process op- timisation. Not only did they sup- port us in this project, but they also con- firmed that there will almost certainly be great demand for the new competence centre in future. feedback. This The word “future” brings us to the next question. Will the digital workflow at Zeramex offer even more options in future? Are you al- ready working on further develop- ments in the Zeramex Digital Solu- tions department, and if so, what form will these take? Hunn: I thought you might put this question to me [laughs]. Indeed, there are product enhancements that are already in development and, in some cases, almost completed. In the near future, the competence centre will certainly provide us- Fig. 2: Peter Hölldampf is the laboratory manager at Geiger Dentaltechnik, one of the longest established machining centres in southern Germany. Fig. 1: Adrian Hunn was elected new CEO of Dentalpoint at the beginning of 2020. ers with innovations as well as en- hancements of existing products. Of course, I cannot yet tell you exactly what these will be. In addition to the product, delivery times are an issue. We are already working intensively on offering the customer shorter delivery times as soon as possible. The aim is that, in future, Zeramex Digital Solutions products will be received by the customer within two days of placing the order. Mr Hölldampf, you are the labora- tory manager at Geiger Dentaltech- nik, one of the longest established machining centres in southern Germany and a close partner of Zeramex. In 2000, your laboratory was the first in Germany to use 3M ESPE to implement a pilot project for milling zirconium dioxide with CNC machines which operated on a CAD/CAM basis. What can you tell us about this material, the machin- ing process and your experience with it? Hölldampf: Yes, that was very excit- ing back then. Zirconium dioxide was still in its infancy, and when 3M, then ESPE, came to us to test this new process, we were initially quite sceptical about whether it would work. In the test phase, we realised that the material zirconium dioxide was unique and functioned really well and that it would, therefore, be possible to do quite a lot with it. Of course, zirconium dioxide has its pitfalls, and there are a few things to consider when preparing and machining it. At the end of the day, zirconium dioxide is a ceramic. This means that you have to carefully in- vestigate factors like stability values, connector cross sections for bridges and the creation of the correct sub- strate for subsequent veneering ce- ramics. There are many factors that come into play. Extremely precise processing must be ensured over all the manufacturing steps. In the past, full-ceramic restorations were really only possible using pressed ceramics or the hot isostatic pressed variant. Milling in the green state, however, was a complete innovation. This new approach was gentle on the material, the machine and the milling tool. In addition, it was possible to achieve much more detailed and precise re- sults. It is said that stability is still an is- sue with zirconium dioxide. You have been working with this mate- rial for over 20 years. What is your opinion about its stability? Hölldampf: Zirconium dioxide is a very hard material. If we take a gold crown for comparison, it is much more forgiving in terms of chip- ping. This is because gold is much more malleable than ceramic. For the ceramic process, this means that an absolutely perfect impression is required in advance. If uncertain- ties are already present in the im- pression, this can lead to inaccura- cies, and there is a risk of parts of it breaking off. Since pressure cannot be used to apply zirconium dioxide restorations, a perfect fit must be assured. A gold matrix is more for- giving. Because zirconium dioxide is such a hard material, the product has to be extremely precise and a perfect fit, as I said. The fit is the ab- solutely crucial. In the further course of machining, it is also important to process it carefully without pressure and with the right cooling. Especially in the area of the geometry of im- plant connections, it is important to use extremely stable ceramic mate- rial. The pressure on a natural tooth is simply very different from that on an implant. An implant is firmly an- chored in the bone and allows practi- cally no further movement. Are there still problems with fit- ting with zirconium dioxide, and does this require a lot of rework- ing? Hölldampf: Actually, this is no long- er really the case. Above all, owing to improvements in the software in recent years, it is now possible to work much more precisely in scan- ning and then digitally designing the implant. As a result, significantly less reworking has been required in re- cent years. Zeramex Digital Solutions offers customised and completely metal- free abutments, crowns and even one-piece monolithic crowns. To what extent have you, in the labo- ratory, been able to benefit from these innovations? Hölldampf: The issue is really the connection geometry of the abut- ment, that is, the prosthetic restora- ÿPage 19