Despite the digital age in dentistry, partial dentures are still very much in demand today! Although modern technology cannot completely replace manual work, it can make our work much easier.
What manual steps can the CAD CAM operator be entrusted with and what effect will this have on the work? The fabrication of a partial denture begins with the casting of a class 4 plaster model. Modern technology allows us to scan the jaw and print the model on a 3d printer.
Then begins the preparation of the model for duplication, work in a parallelometer (separation of the equator of the tooth, removal of undercuts, work with discs for undercuts, etc.). After that, you can duplicate the model with silicone and then fill the resulting mold with refractory mass. These steps are replaced by scanning the model and preparing it in the program. A very convenient and intuitive program is provided by EXOCAD.
The next step is for the technician to model the bar on the refractory model. The same is done in 3D. And then the dental technicians have as many as 4 ways!) And three of them only because of the figure! The first, of course, is simply to cast. If the bar has been modeled in 3d, we can print it using the technique of laser sintering from CHS, we can print it on a 3D printer from ash-free plastic and cast it, or we can cut it out of wax on a CADCAM cutter. Our lab chooses to use SmolWax CADCAM wax. I'll explain why. Laser sintering is not available to our lab due to the very high cost of this equipment. And sending the work to another city entails a problem with the timing of production. Printing with an ashless plastic printer is still very imperfect and unstable. In addition, it can cause problems during molding in the form of torn flaps. We are completely happy with the wax milling, on the other hand! And the moldmaker performs the pins without separating the denture from the billet, which gives an additional guarantee of accuracy. This technique saves us a lot of time and nerves!)