What is CAD CAM?

CAD CAM technology allows dental professionals to digitally scan the patient’s teeth and with that digital impression, design the restoration on the computer. There are many advantages to this method:

• There is no need for a traditional impression, therefore it can be a lot more comfortable for the patient. (Check out our earlier blog post about Digital vs Traditional Impression for more details.)
• CAD CAM technology allows dentists the ability to create a porcelain restoration in only one appointment (same day dentistry). The whole process takes about 2 – 2.5 hours.  There is no need for a second visit to the office as the crown is designed and created in house.

There are 4 main steps involved in the CAD/CAM process

Step 1:

The first step is to take the digital impression. This is done using an intra-oral scanner which takes hundreds of pictures and converts it into a 3-D digital model. This step only takes a few minutes. Again, please refer to our earlier blog post about Digital vs Traditional Impressions for more information about this step.

 

Step 2:

Next, the restoration is designed on the computer.

 

Step 3:

Then the data from the design restoration data is sent to a milling machine, where a ceramic block that matches the patient’s tooth color is placed.

 

Step 4:

About 10+ minutes later, the tooth-colored porcelain is ready to be tried in to ensure proper fit. The restoration is then custom glazed (to match the tooth’s natural color/shade), fired and ready to be bonded to the prepared tooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The video below illustrates the entire process: It’s important to point out that, even though this technology is available, it is still a fairly large investment for most offices to obtain it. We, at Chicago Beautiful Smiles, are proud to have the ability to offer innovative, state-of-the-art technology to our patients.

Lastly, refer to our CAD/CAM page for even more information about this technology.