Page 8 - Dental Technology June 2022

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08 cosmetic section DENTAL TECHNOLOGY, APRIL-JUNE 2022

PRO-ARCH RESTORATION WITH PEKK BEAM

AND MONOLITHIC ZIRCONIUM OXIDE

CAN WE PLAN FOR SUCCESS?

ODT. MASTER PATRICK ZIMMERMANN, ODT. DOMINIK MÄDER, ODT. ERWIN EITLER

AND ODT. GABRIEL WILLAUER

An advantage of CAD/CAM-assisted fabrication is the multi-
plicity of materials linked to it. A wide range of materials
can be used in combination with the manual work phases.
Economics satisfies the dental technician in the same way
as the need for aesthetics and function. This article discuss-
es the manufacture of a beam for an implant-supported cir-
cular bridge in PEKK Pekkton material. The teeth were
milled from monolithic zirconium oxide, after which indi-
vidual characterization was performed manually.
Digital technologies change the world step by step. Traditional den-
tal craft enterprises take advantage of this, ingeniously combining digi-
tal know-how with skill and craft techniques. In addition to accuracy
and reproducibility, CAD/ CAM technology offers the advantage of the
multiplicity of materials. For the dental technician this also means
knowledge! In particular, the field of scientific materials appears more
important today than ever. Modern dental technology rests on three pil-
lars: craftsmanship, knowledge and service. These are combined with FIG 1: Six implants in an edentulous maxillary must be restored with a partially removable pros-
the passion for doing, creativity and affinity for digital technologies. It thesis (Pro-Arch)
is this combination is what appeals to dental technicians.
RECOGNIZING PERSPECTIVES
It's certainly not just dental technology that changes, but the whole
environment. Modern society continuously demands more and more
solutions. People demand much from themselves and from others when
it comes to health, medical care and aesthetics. In this way, a dental
prosthesis with its aesthetics, quality, function and longevity represents
a great value.
Each day in life, the exercise of balancing the possibilities and con-
cepts can only happen if we confront each other in a well-founded way
with changes. But what about profitability?... Is it still okay? Can we be
more economical?
Dental technicians are asked to critically analyze new technologies, FIG 2a
to test their use in daily work and to verify the stages of processing on
the basis of tested assumptions. Only in this way concepts that serve to
optimize the daily work of the dental technician are born over time in
a lasting way.

COMMUNICATION: FINDING NEW WAYS
Total prosthesis and monolithic restoration digitization (dental and
implant support) are currently the center of attention. At the same time,
the classic sectors of fixed and removable prostheses are overlapped.
Together, they must be defined as new processes. This requires commu-
nication. A dialogue drawn from the daily life of the authors in their lab-
oratory makes it clear.
EXAMPLE OF WORK
In our example it was necessary to realize a partially removable pro- FIG 2b
arch prosthesis on six implants in the edentulous maxillary arch
(Figure1). Straumann's Pro-Arch implant-prosthetic concept is an FIG 2a - 2b: The manually made set-up with pre-packaged teeth is prepared for a try-in in the
effective way for obtaining "fixed" prostheses in edentulous patients. It mouth
is based on manufacturing an implant supported restoration without laboration with Queen's University of Belfast/Great Britain. The dental
inserting long inclined implants, or without having to perform bone laboratory as a rule, is involved in the therapy from the early stages and
grafts. That's why currently a study is being carried out at the clinic of uses a set-up based on study models and the determination of the inter-
reconstructive dentistry and gerodontology at the University's ZMK of maxillary ratios. This can be used, at the same time as a temporary and
Bern, under the direction Dr. Julia-Gabriela Wittneben, MedSc, in col-
as a basis for a surgical dima.