Clinical evaluation and laboratory comparison of chairside CAD/CAM systems

In the clinical evaluation, the investigators reported the E4D Dentist System was “… easy to learn by both experienced and inexperienced CAD/CAM users. Restorations were captured (scanned), designed, milled, occlusion adjusted and inserted in an average of less than 45 minutes. One hundred percent of all restorations created were found to be clinically acceptable by an independent examiner…”

In a separate in-vitro investigation, full coverage restorations of similar design were fabricated by the E4D Dentist System and a competitive system, seated onto composite dies using resin-based cements and then sectioned for fit analysis. The analysis showed that the E4D fabricated crowns exhibited a reduced and more homogeneous fit at all measured positions (buccal, lingual and center). The results demonstrated a mean marginal fit of less than 20 microns, with an upper limit of 30 microns for E4D restorations and a mean marginal fit of 43 microns with an upper limit of 68 microns for the competitive system.

In a subsequent in-vitro evaluation, the mouth-motion fatigue reliability and failure modes of monolithic crowns (IPS Empress CAD, Ivoclar Vivadent) fabricated by the E4D Dentist System and a competitive system were evaluated. Results from the single load to failure provided a value of 1175 N for the E4D fabricated restorations and 1087 N for the competitive system. In the fatigue failure evaluation, no statistical difference was noted between the two systems.

Dr Gary Severance, D4D Technologies’ vice president of clinical affairs, said: “Clinicians who currently embrace chairside CAD/CAM dentistry and those who may have been cautious in the past due to misconceptions regarding the integrity and ease of use of such systems will be encouraged by these results. We are grateful to researchers at NYU’s dental school for their contribution and effort and for making their findings available to the profession.”

It should be noted that different operators fabricated the samples from each system.

The authors of the reports are Van P. Thompson, E. Dianne Rekow, Mark Wolff and Nelson RFA Silva. Copies of the complete reports are available online at www.e4d.com/resources/nyuReports.php.

D4D Technologies LLC is taking the dental profession to a higher level of productivity, patient comfort and convenience with its E4D Dentist, E4D Labworks and E4D Studio Systems, all part of the E4D Sky Network of products. The systems use high-speed laser scanning technology to produce digital 3-D impressions of teeth prepared for full contour crowns, inlays, onlays, smile designs and no-prep veneers.

The intuitive DentaLogic software enables operators to customize restoration designs and send them wirelessly to the precision mill that uses the latest restorative materials to produce fine esthetic restorations.

Headquartered in Richardson, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, D4D Technologies has partnerships with major corporations in the dental profession: Henry Schein is the company’s exclusive global distributor; 3M ESPE and Ivoclar Vivadent supply restorative materials.

For more information, see www.E4D.com.