No abstract

Introducing new technology in the dental school curriculum may face some uphill challenges navigating through university-level bureaucracy, financial ramifications, and influencing the mindset of certain faculty. A dental school that relies heavily on teaching traditional restorative procedures may particularly face many challenges to embrace new technology. The restorative department at a US dental school created a division of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) dentistry to introduce the concept of digital dentistry to dental students and faculty. This article describes methods that were adopted to improve acceptance and increase the productivity of chairside CAD/CAM restorations for both students and faculty at the dental school in US.

Purpose: To assess the clinical performance of CAD/CAM monolithic implantsupported restorations manufactured using a fully digital workflow and two different types of ceramic blocks. Materials and Methods: One hundred and one patients received single-unit implantsupported restorations at a University predoctoral clinic. All restorations were designed and fabricated using either a predrilled LS 2 block (group P, n = 59) or a conventional solid LS 2 block with an occlusal opening drilled manually prior to crystallization (group M, n = 42). The mean follow-up time after restoration delivery was 18.4 ± 4.8 months (range 12 to 33 months). Patients with less than a 12-month follow-up were excluded. Electronic health records were reviewed to identify number and type of complications during the follow-up time. Clinical outcomes were classified as success, survival, and failure of the restoration. Chi-square tests were used to identify differences in success and survival rates between the groups. Nonparametric Mann-Whitney U tests were used to identify differences in the number of major and minor complications as well as the total number of complications that were observed among groups. Results: Overall success and survival rates were 80.2% and 97%, respectively. Seventy one restorations (70.3%) were complication-free. There were no significant differences between the groups with regards to the number of complications or success and survival rates. Conclusions: Single-unit CAD/CAM monolithic implant-supported restorations that are fabricated in a fully digital workflow present relatively high complication rates and moderate short-term clinical outcomes. Clinical studies with longer follow-up times are needed to evaluate long-term outcomes of these restorations.

No abstract

No abstract