Dentistry focuses on diagnosing, preventing, and treating conditions of the teeth, gums, and oral structures, supporting oral health and overall well-being.
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The treatment phase in Digital Dentistry is characterized by the seamless transition from virtual design to physical reality. At Liv Hospital, this is achieved through Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM), which includes both subtractive (milling) and additive (3D printing) technologies. The digital workflow allows for the use of advanced monolithic materials that offer superior strength and biocompatibility compared to traditional hand-layered ceramics. Furthermore, digital protocols enable “Guided Surgery,” a technique that translates the virtual surgical plan into a physical guide, ensuring that implants are placed with micron-level precision to support the pre-designed prosthetics.
Guided surgery is the pinnacle of digital implantology, minimizing trauma and maximizing accuracy.
Static Guides: These are 3D printed resin templates that fit over the patient’s teeth or gums. They contain metal sleeves that restrict the drill’s angle and depth, forcing the surgeon to follow the digital plan exactly.
Dynamic Navigation: Similar to GPS for the brain, this technology uses motion tracking cameras to track the drill and the patient’s jaw in real-time. The surgeon watches a screen with a target, allowing for real-time adjustments during surgery.
Flapless Protocol: Because the bone position is known from the scan, the surgeon often does not need to cut a large flap of gum tissue. The implant is placed through a small punch hole, preserving the blood supply and reducing post-op swelling.
Immediate Loading: Because the implant position is known beforehand, a temporary crown can be milled before the surgery and inserted immediately after the implant is placed (Immediate Function).
The Single-Visit Workflow
Chairside milling allows for the delivery of permanent ceramic restorations in a single appointment.
Optical Impression: The tooth is prepared and scanned. No temporary crown is needed.
Design Phase: The dentist designs the crown on a chairside computer. The software proposes a shape based on the adjacent teeth and the opposing bite.
Milling: The design is sent to a milling unit in the office, which carves the crown from a block of ceramic (e.g., feldspathic or lithium disilicate) in 10-15 minutes.
Sintering/Glazing: The milled crown is fired in a speed furnace to crystallize the material and achieve its final hardness and glaze.
Bonding: The crown is bonded to the tooth using resin cement. The entire process takes about 90 minutes to 2 hours.
3D printing is transforming the fabrication of removable appliances and complex scaffolds.
Occlusal Splints: Night guards are printed from biocompatible resins. The digital design ensures perfectly even contacts, reducing jaw muscle tension more effectively than hand-made splints.
Digital Dentures: Denture bases can be milled or printed. Digital dentures have better retention because the material does not shrink during processing like traditional acrylic.
Clear Aligners: Orthodontic treatment involves printing a series of models, each with the teeth moved slightly. Transparent plastic sheets are thermoformed over these models to create aligners.
Surgical Models: For complex surgeries, a replica of the patient’s skull is printed. The surgeon can practice the surgery on the model, bending plates and measuring screws beforehand to reduce operating time.
Restoring a completely edentulous arch with implants is streamlined by digital workflows.
Photogrammetry: Specialized cameras use markers placed on the implants to capture their positions with extreme accuracy, unaffected by saliva or soft-tissue movement that distorts standard impressions.
Bar Design: The titanium bar that supports the bridge is designed digitally to ensure it has sufficient thickness for strength while leaving enough space for hygiene.
Monolithic Zirconia: The final bridge is often milled from a solid zirconia puck. This material is virtually unbreakable and does not chip like porcelain-fused-to-metal bridges.
Copy Milling: If a patient likes their temporary bridge, the digital file can be used to mill the final bridge as an exact copy, ensuring the patient is comfortable with the shape and bite.
Digital dentistry intersects with regenerative medicine in the treatment of bone and tissue defects.
Custom Mesh: For significant bone defects, a titanium mesh is 3D printed to fit the defect perfectly. This mesh holds the bone graft in place and maintains the space for new bone to grow.
Scaffold Architecture: The internal structure of the printed scaffold is designed with specific porosity to allow blood vessels (angiogenesis) and bone cells (osteoblasts) to migrate into the graft.
Growth Factor Delivery: Research is advancing the development of scaffolds impregnated with Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) or Platelet-Rich Fibrin (PRF) to accelerate healing.
Block Grafts: Instead of harvesting a bone block from the patient’s hip, a synthetic bone block can be milled to fit the jaw defect exactly, reducing surgical morbidity.
Optimizing the Emergence Profile
The connection between the implant and the crown is critical for gum health.
Titanium Bases: A pre-fabricated titanium base provides the connection to the implant, ensuring a precise fit that prevents screw loosening.
Zirconia Emergence: A custom zirconia structure is bonded to the titanium base. This zirconia is shaped to support the gum tissue, creating a natural “emergence profile” that looks like a natural tooth growing out of the gum.
Biocompatibility: Gum tissue attaches better to zirconia than to metal or standard porcelain, creating a biological seal that protects the underlying bone from bacteria.
Angulation Correction: Custom abutments can correct the angle of an implant that had to be placed at a tilt due to bone limitations, ensuring the final crown is aligned correctly.
Orthodontics has moved from bending wires to digital planning.
Indirect Bonding: Brackets are placed virtually on a computer model to ensure perfect positioning. A transfer tray is printed to place all brackets on the teeth simultaneously in the mouth.
Custom Wires: Robots bend orthodontic wires according to the digital plan, ensuring the wire exerts the exact force needed to move the tooth to its final position.
Root Tracking: By combining CBCT with intraoral scans, the orthodontist can see the roots moving in the bone during treatment, ensuring they do not move out of the bone housing (dehiscence).
Simulation: Patients can view a time-lapse video of their projected tooth movement, improving compliance and motivation.
Send us all your questions or requests, and our expert team will assist you.
The entire process, from scanning to cementing, is typically completed in a single appointment lasting about 90 minutes to two hours.
Yes, guided surgery is generally considered safer because it prevents the drill from entering vital structures such as nerves or sinuses and ensures optimal implant placement.
Modern 3D printing resins for splints are highly durable and flexible, often resisting wear and fracture better than traditional brutal acrylic guards.
A custom abutment is shaped to match your specific gum line, providing better support for the tissue and creating a more natural-looking and hygienic result than a stock part.
While it covers most workflows, some highly complex aesthetic characterizations or specific functional adjustments still benefit from the artistic touch of a skilled technician or dentist.
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