Page 48 - Dental Practice August 2022

48-51-VITA article-Q8:18-22-Lanka Mahesh.qxd 8/17/2022 6:37 PM Page 1

prosthodontic section

35 YEARS OF VITABLOCS

A SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN SUCCESS STORY

INTRODUCTION
VITA Zahnfabrik developed the first CAD/CAM material and
manufactured it 35 years ago in cooperation with the inventors of
the CEREC system – this was the birth of VITABLOCS and an inter-
national success story. Thanks to the material development, the
world's first CAD/CAM-supported inlay made of VITABLOCS
could be used on a patient at the University of Zurich in 1985. Since
1986, monochromatic feldspar ceramic blocks have been available
on the market from VITA Zahnfabrik and have been used
throughout the world in CEREC milling units. In 2007, the
polychromatic variants VITABLOCS TriLuxe forte with shade gra-
dients from the neck to the incisal area were created, and in 2010,
VITABLOCS RealLife with a three-dimensional, curved shade
gradient between the dentin and incisal area were introduced. This FIG. 1: Initial situation following excavation of caries and root canal treatment of
enabled CEREC users to monolithically also meet the esthetic tooth 27
requirements in the front. For 35 years now, single-tooth restora-
tions made from VITABLOCS have been meeting daily dental chal-
lenges all over the world. More than 30 million VITABLOCS blanks
have been processed since 1990, which is why new CAD/CAM mate-
rials in science have to be measured again and again against this
established gold standard. Over the years, researchers from all over
the world have accumulated a wealth of data that confirms the func-
tional and esthetic long-term stability of VITABLOCS. In addition
to all the daily successes in practice, which are second to none, it is
time to take stock of the scientific situation.
INLAYS AND ONLYAS EXHIBIT LONG TERM STABILITY/ OVER 27
YEARS
CAD/CAM began with inlays and onlays. For this reason, data from FIG. 2: Shortening of the buccal cusp as part of the overlay preparation
the longest investigation periods is also available for these types of
restorations. In a Swiss dental practice, 200 restorations of this kind
were fabricated using VITABLOCS, fitted based on defined criteria,
and subject to three follow-up examinations over a period of 27
years. After 10 years, the survival rate was 90.4% , after 17 years
88.7% , and after 27 years, 87.5%, which the researchers consider
highly acceptable from a clinical standpoint in the daily practice
routine. In clinical studies at universities, inlays and onlays achieved
even better results. At the University of Cologne, 2328 of these types
of restorations were integrated, according to a defined methodolo-
gy, and followed up for nine years. The survival rate for these was
95.5%. Researchers from Austria were even able to document a sur-
vival rate of 99.3% after almost eight years, when the entire chewing
surface was treated with overlays. Fourteen (14) FIG. 3: The CAD/CAM-supported and finalized overlay before the final integration
relevant clinical studies on inlays, onlays and overlays with
VITABLOCS were also combined in a review by researchers from
Brazil and Switzerland, which determined a survival rate of 91% Kazakhstan) shows, for example, the restoration of a root
after ten years. canal-treated tooth 27 with an overlay made of VITABLOCS Mark
The following case from Dr. Oxana Naidyonova (Karaganda, II and the condition of the restoration after 2.5 years.

48 Dental Practice // July-August 2022 // Vol 18 No 4