As a dentist who also owns his own dental laboratory, I’ve been in a unique position to observe many of the changes to both the clinical and technical sides of our profession over the past several years. The incorporation of more and more digital technologies has clearly been one of the most exciting changes, bringing added efficiencies to dentistry. The introduction of digital impressions is the latest technology to improve productivity, both chairside and in the laboratory.
IN-OFFICE SCANNING SYSTEM
The impressions can be used to create both traditional PFM and zirconia restorations, and the accuracy of the impression data means the fit of crowns produced with the system is outstanding.
ACCURACY IN THE DENTAL LABORATORY PAYS
On the laboratory side, Lava C.O.S. eliminates all the steps of model making. The digital impression data is sent to a stereolithography (SLA) facility, which creates the model in an automated process that cures layer upon layer of photosensitive polymer resin. This technology creates an exact model of the impression, which is then shipped back to the laboratory for the subsequent steps. When creating models from conventional impressions, the laboratory has to take a number of steps to ensure the model’s accuracy, but the SLA models produced from digital impressions in a one-step process are always consistent and accurate.
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