CEREC

CAD/CAM dentistry is a field of dentistry and prosthodontics using CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing) to improve the design and creation of dental restorations, especially dental prostheses, including crowns, crown lays, veneers, inlays and onlays, fixed dental prostheses bridges, dental implant supported restorations, dentures (removable or fixed), and orthodontic appliances. CAD/CAM technology allows the delivery of a well-fitting, aesthetic, and a durable prostheses for the patient. CAD/CAM complements earlier technologies used for these purposes by any combination of increasing the speed of design and creation; increasing the convenience or simplicity of the design, creation, and insertion processes; and making possible restorations and appliances that otherwise would have been infeasible. Other goals include reducing unit cost and making affordable restorations and appliances that otherwise would have been prohibitively expensive. However, to date, chairside CAD/CAM often involves extra time on the part of the dentist, and the fee is often at least two times higher than for conventional restorative treatments using lab services. CAD/CAM is one of the highly competent dental lab technologies. Like other CAD/CAM fields, CAD/CAM dentistry uses subtractive processes (such as CNC milling) and additive processes (such as 3D printing) to produce physical instances from 3D models. In some cases, “CAD/CAM” in dental technology is used to describe protheses made by milling technology but this is not fully correct as the term “CAD/CAM” does not relate to the method of production. Although CAD/CAM dentistry was used in the mid-1980s, early efforts were considered a cumbersome novelty, requiring an inordinate amount of time to produce a viable product. This inefficiency prevented its use within dental offices and limited it to labside use (that is, used within dental laboratories). As adjunctive techniques, software, and materials improved, the chairside use of CAD/CAM (use within dental offices/surgeries) increased. For example, the commercialization of Cerec by Sirona made CAD/CAM available to dentists who formerly would not have had avenues for using it. The article CEREC CAD/CAM in Dentistry original dissertation Data capture stabilizing device for the CEREC CAD/CAM chairside camera fully explains all pros and cons of the system and is detailed in (materials, fit, software, hardware, etc.). Chairside CAD/CAM restoration differs from conventional dentistry in that the prosthesis is typically luted or bonded the same day. Conventional prosthesis, such as crowns, have temporaries placed from one to several weeks while a dental laboratory or in house dental lab produces the restoration. The patient returns later to have the temporaries removed and the laboratory-made crown cemented or bonded in place. An in-house CAD/CAM system enables the dentist to create a finished inlay in as little as an hour in some cases. CAD/CAM systems use an optical camera to take a virtual impression by creating a 3D image which is forwarded to a software program and the impression results in a computer-generated cast on which the restoration is designed. Bonded veneer CAD/CAM restorations are more conservative in their preparation of the tooth. As bonding is more effective on tooth enamel than the underlying dentin, care is taken not to remove the enamel layer. Though one-day service is a benefit that is typically claimed by dentists offering chairside CAD/CAM services, the dentist's time is commonly doubled and the fee is therefore doubled.