Harnessing digital dentistry

Nicolas Coomber explains why an efficient practice is also a more sustainable practice

Digital dentistry and guided treatments: a concise systematic review

Introduction: In the landscape of new digital technologies, many dental treatments have benefited from this digital advance. The development of computed tomography (CT) dental scanners has enabled powerful imaging capabilities and software applications. The prosthetic plane and implanted drill guides with the placement of trajectories based on a drill according to the position of the CT 3-D Space markers. Objective: To present, through a systematic review, the main considerations of guided surgery in implant dentistry and its respective advantages, disadvantages, and limitations. Methods: Clinical studies with qualitative and/or quantitative analysis were included, following the rules of the systematic review-PRISMA. Results: Out of a total of 102 articles found, 82 articles were evaluated and 57 were rejected for not meeting the GRADE classification, and only 25 articles were used in this study to compose the textual part. Advances in technology have contributed to the improvement of implant models. 3D reconstructions make it possible to determine the quantity and quality of available bone and also enable the simulation of implant installation in a virtual environment, reducing time and the possibility of errors, allowing for an overall reduction in the costs of oral rehabilitation. Conclusion: Guided preoperative planning or project-guided dental surgery provides high implant and dental rehabilitation success rates, also benefiting prosthetic restorations supported by fixed implants. Furthermore, the concept of using personalized implants with the help of 3D virtual treatment planning improves mandibular restoration with a good facial profile, esthetics, and dental rehabilitation.

Recent Advancements in CAD/CAM Same-Day Dentistry in Practice and Education

Digital dentistry, including CAD/CAM dentistry, is perhaps the most disruptive innovation in dentistry to date. The rapid development of digital dentistry technologies over the past several decades has enabled clinicians to improve patient care by significantly reducing the time necessary for the restorative phase of treatment. Advancements in intra-oral scanning and computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM), in conjunction with new dental CAD/CAM ceramic materials, have simplified patient care and made same-day dentistry a reality. This review aims to present the most recent advancements described in current literature as well as to document the successful implementation of digital dentistry into a predoctoral program. The overall process of CAD/CAM same-day dentistry and the accompanying advancements in software and materials were presented and discussed. Implementation of technology and personnel requirements were reviewed. CAD/CAM dentistry has been influential in shaping and improving dental practice and education, and this influence will only continue with time.

New Understanding of Dental Public Health: A Review

Oral disorders are a most important public health issue in most of the developing countries, and their prevalence is on the rise. To enhance the population's oral wellbeing by providing preventive and therapeutic services is the main aim of dental public health (DPH). However, due to low requirement of capability and ability among DPH personnel, its accomplishment in India is being probed [1]. For many people, dental care has grown expensive, and a huge number of patients around the world are delaying or ignoring important dental procedures. in addition, the ageing of the worldwide populace, as well as the resulting growth in common and dental concern needs, raises worries about the long-term viability of healthcare organization. These changes underscore the critical requirement for a new dental care representation that is both sustainable and efficient [2]. In this regard, the favorable approach for transforming the scene of oral healthcare is the adoption of scientific advancements in dentistry, commonly known as "digital dentistry" by many. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) campaigns revolutionize on a regular basis, encouraging the creation and spread of community wellbeing practices that are holded up by both documentation and conveyance technology (e-Health) and mobile phones (m-Health) [3]. We can see how scientific developments could facilitate to accomplish these aims by offering constructive apparatus if we focus on the concept of Dental Public Health (DPH) as “the knowledge and art of arresting and scheming dental disorders and understanding dental wellbeing through efficient group hard work” [4].

Toward Clinically Applicable 3-Dimensional Tooth Segmentation via Deep Learning

Digital dentistry plays a pivotal role in dental health care. A critical step in many digital dental systems is to accurately delineate individual teeth and the gingiva in the 3-dimension intraoral scanned mesh data. However, previous state-of-the-art methods are either time-consuming or error prone, hence hindering their clinical applicability. This article presents an accurate, efficient, and fully automated deep learning model trained on a data set of 4,000 intraoral scanned data annotated by experienced human experts. On a holdout data set of 200 scans, our model achieves a per-face accuracy, average-area accuracy, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 96.94%, 98.26%, and 0.9991, respectively, significantly outperforming the state-of-the-art baselines. In addition, our model takes only about 24 s to generate segmentation outputs, as opposed to >5 min by the baseline and 15 min by human experts. A clinical performance test of 500 patients with malocclusion and/or abnormal teeth shows that 96.9% of the segmentations are satisfactory for clinical applications, 2.9% automatically trigger alarms for human improvement, and only 0.2% of them need rework. Our research demonstrates the potential for deep learning to improve the efficacy and efficiency of dental treatment and digital dentistry.

Full digital workflow in fixed adhesive dental prosthesis: Description of a clinical technique

Digital dentistry has gained space in several dental specialties. It is possible to achieve excellent results with the digital workflow, which combines the efficiency of the restorative material with a greater marginal adaptation. This study aimed to report a clinical case through the digital workflow, with a faster and clinically acceptable prosthetic resolution. In this clinical case report, digital workflow allowed a faster and clinically acceptable prosthetic resolution. A 45-year-old female patient reported cementation failure of the prosthetic crown on tooth 14. As it was a vital tooth, the tooth received a total crown preparation. In the same clinical session, the patient's mouth was scanned then a capture software obtained a virtual model. After, the design software planned a digital "diagnostic wax-up", so a leucitic ceramic was chosen for the rehabilitation. The ceramic block was milled and receive stain and glaze, dispensing the prosthesis laboratory. Then, the adhesive cementation was performed with a dual-polymerized resin cement. The final crown had ideal adaptation, with no need for interproximal and occlusal adjustments, with an excellent marginal fit. Within the limitations of this study, this case report showed that the digital workflow allowed a favorable result in a shorter working time, which brought back function and aesthetics, without the need for interproximal and occlusal adjustments. Keywords Prosthodontics; Cosmetic dentistry; CAD-CAM.

CADCAM in dentistry. Materials and methods: an overview for the dental team

CADCAM is still a relatively underused genre in UK dentistry. This article examines, in broad context, the range of technology and materials available in the UK. The nature of a digital workflow is outlined, with examples therein. Subtractive and additive manufacturing is discussed, along with manufacturing methods and materials. The perceived barriers to incorporating CADCAM, the actual benefits of digital dentistry to the dental team, and our patients, along with comments as to the future of digital dentistry in the UK are also discussed. CPD/Clinical Relevance: With the increasing interest in CADCAM in UK dentistry, an overview of emerging technology and materials is essential information for clinicians.

A Digital Fabrication of Dental Prosthesis for Preventing Self-Injurious Behavior Related to Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Report

This case report aimed to demonstrate the prosthetic solution of an autism patient with self-injurious behavior using digital dentistry. A 24-year-old male visited our clinic with chief complaints of severe gingival recession associated with self-injurious behavior. Bilateral fixed prosthesis with denture flange were delivered using a digital workflow for the protection of the gingiva. The patient showed healed gingival tissue, behavioral modification, and acceptable oral hygiene during the follow-up period. Also, his caregivers reported no recurrence of the self-injurious behavior. Autism patients usually show self-injurious behavior, which can damage their oral tissue. With adoption of this prosthesis, behavior modification as well as healing of oral tissue was achieved.