CAD/CAM technology in dental prosthetics

CAD – stands for computer-aided design and CAM – stands for computer-aided manufacturing. This technology was created by the production industry in late 1950’, and later adapted by dentistry in around 1985. The CAD/CAM technology has simply revolutionized the construction of dental restorations and prosthesis. Since then, production in the dental laboratory has never been the same.

CAD/CAM technology makes it possible to create dental prostheses like dental crowns, porcelain veneers, teeth bridges, dentures and implant-supported prostheses, with exceptional precision. CAD/CAM systems allow you to work with materials such as zirconium oxide, titanium, alloys of other metals, alumina or composite materials. A number of clinical studies have been conducted to prove the high durability and strength of restorative work using CAD/CAM systems.

The use of modern technologies in the prosthetic laboratory has created an interesting alternative to less precise and more labor-intensive traditional techniques. Use of CAD/CAM in dentistry has resulted in more efficient, more accurate and more cost-effective processes for producing dental restorations. This technology continues to improve, and will provide innovative solutions in the years to come.

The benefits of the CAD/CAM technology include:

• faster, easier and more convenient treatment for the patient
• more precise dental work with best aesthetics
• highest precision of prosthetic work and its higher durability
• working within the image on a computer monitor allows you to see the project from all sides and perspectives

CAD programs allow you to manipulate the design, e.g. rotate, enlarge, map the occlusal surface or change the depth of furrows and the height of nodules. In addition, by making the individual parameters dependent on each other, it is possible to shorten the working time, because when one value is changed, the others change automatically.

Before CAD/CAM technology was available, the process of getting crowns, implants, dentures and other dental prostheses involved various multiple dental visits. Your dentist would make several molds of your teeth and then send them off to a laboratory, where technicians would make your new teeth. The CAD/CAM process is incomparably more efficient and can be completed in a relatively short time of up to 2 hours maximum!

In the video below, you can watch an example of a designing and milling process of a CAM/CAD process to create a new crown:

Design your smile with a revolutionary CAD/CAM system in Materna Dental clinic in Poznań.