Medical tools and device prototypes
was printed to assess the surgical use feasibility
before the final milling production.
In this case, a zygoma implant
extended drill guide was made.
This implant surgical guide was printed
with biocompatible materials.
If the data acquisition is captured by digital impression,
the physical models have to be produced by 3D printing.
Conventional crown and bridges models, implant models with
special use implant analogue are printed.
In orthodontic cases, the quality of the 3D printed models
are far superior to the stone models.
For Subtractive Manufacturing,
the simple crown, abutment can be milled by
simple in-house milling machine.
If the clinic with in-house dental lab,
more comprehensive dental prostheses can be produced
by the in-house 5-axis milling machine.
Hard metals or fully sintered zirconia
can be milled by industrial-level milling machine.
After CAM production, the final veneering
will be done by dental technicians.
Materials involved usually are acrylic or porcelain work
or surface stain only,
depends on the prostheses designs.
After understanding different kinds of dental technologies,
let's see how those things formulate
our daily digital workflow.
Many digital workflow can be customized
and formulated for crown and bridge work,
implant guided surgery,
implants prostheses, orthodontics treatment,
and maxillofacial surgery.
This is the simplest digital workflow
for single crown or implant abutment in
daily practice by CEREC.
Data acquisition by digital impression,
crown or abutment was designed by build-in software.
Ceramics milled by in-house milling machine,
and then final veneering process by dental technicians.
For implant-guided surgery digital workflow,
even the same treatment,
different CAD/CAM systems have different digital workflow.
For example, the closed system NobelGuide workflow
the surgical guide was produced by NobelBiocare.
The open system features 3Shape Implant Studio workflow,
the surgical guide can be fabricated by 3D printing.
Moreover, the Sirona CEREC Guide workflow,
the surgical guide was fabricated by milling PMMA.
Different systems have their own advantages
and disadvantages,
so we can consolidate those systems
and customize our own clinic workflow
for guided implant surgery.
The most common use is
the Implant Prostheses Digital Workflow.
Implant models are scanned by the model scanners
and CAD by different software,
in-house milling or outsource to milling centers afterward.
And again final veneering process
by dental technicians.
Some dental technologies and equipment
can also formulate the digital workflow
for orthodontic and maxillofacial
surgery treatments.
Each workflow is governed by
detailed treatment protocols.
Patient treatment may involve several digital workflows
for example implant guided surgery workflow
and implant prostheses workflow
for immediate loading,
Then customized treatment protocols
can be formulated.
Here is an example for part of the treatment protocol
for full implant prostheses workflow.
There are several bottlenecks in
full digital workflow.
1. Initial investment for the equipment for
various digital technologies.
2. Manpower and the learning curve
to manipulate the technology.
3. The workflow itself has limitations,
especially in closed systems.
4. The choice of materials.
Full understanding of material science is important
in digital dentistry.
