Ivoclar Vivadent Creates a Full System Approach to CAD/CAM
Even as more dental practices and laboratories transfer to digital designs, “people still have misperceptions that CAD/CAM is just milling a restoration,” says Michael Gaglio, DDS, Vice President - Marketing. “But it’s so much more than that. Once the digital designer creates the design, the output can be used under multiple fabrication techniques. That’s where I think dentists don’t have a complete understanding. You can use that data, output it, and mill the restoration to full contour. You can also use the same data to mill a wax coping and then press the restoration. Or you can output that data and use it to print a wax coping and then press the restoration. There are so many new opportunities for output from the data, and really the lab technicians are becoming digital designers.”
Gaglio continues, “Truth be told, digital design allows for ease of use, predictable outcomes, and manageable expectations in terms of what the clinician and patient are expecting.”
George Tysowsky, DDS, Vice President - Technology, adds, “From a company strategic plan, we see this technology playing a very significant role in the future of dentistry. We view CAD/CAM not only as the final restoration, but as an entire process that includes the simplification of cementation, the selection and fabrication of that restoration, the seating process, and final polishing—while providing optimal esthetics. There are entire product lines being developed to speed up the process and provide a more durable and esthetic restoration.”
According to Tysowsky, Ivoclar Vivadent is a material leader in this area. “We offer leucite-reinforced restorations, lithium disilicate monolithic-type restorations with the IPS e.max® product line, and obviously zirconia materials for the high-strength substructure applications. We will continue to enhance the speed of delivery of these restorations, optimizing materials from a density, strength, and durability factor for clinical performance and optimization of esthetics.”
“In many ways, CAD/CAM is still in its infancy and so are the materials,” Gaglio says. “The materials are wonderful, but we have to continue to make them better, easier to use, and even more esthetic than they are today, so that virtually any dentist who participates in this process has the ability to achieve predictable success. On the lab side, we’ll continue to develop new technologies for productivity and performance. We really want to be a support mechanism and partner of the lab technicians to ensure their success along with the success of the restoration and the patient.”
The company offers a significant amount of laboratory training, with four training centers, and partnerships with leading process suppliers to provide education. “By providing solid education, we allow our customers to integrate our products in a very user-friendly fashion,” Tysowsky says. “On the chairside systems, we partner with process suppliers by providing training on integrating the materials, showing them how to become leaders with these types of systems.”
Gaglio notes, “It’s really important for clinicians to understand that we’re not just selling CAD/CAM, we’re selling an outcome. We’re selling a restoration and a process. Many companies have come up short because they focus too much on the technology and not enough on the outcome for the patient. One of the ways that Ivoclar Vivadent has been extremely successful is integrating a full system approach to really provide for a predictable outcome for the patient. That’s more than knowing how to run the machine—it’s understanding the technology and the integration of the restoration including the cementation process and the final polishing of that restoration to assure clinical success and longevity, along with the satisfaction of the patient.”
Ivoclar Vivadent Inc.
175 Pineview Drive, Amherst, NY 14228
(800) 533-6825
https://www.ivoclarvivadent.com
