What are Digital Dentistry Technologies?

What Basic Stages Does Digital Dentistry Consist Of?

Digital dentistry basically consists of three main stages: data collection, planning in a computer environment, and carrying out production. In the data collection stage, the patient’s intraoral condition is scanned with optical cameras or tomography devices and transferred to a virtual environment. In the planning stage, this digital data obtained is examined using special software; the design of the prosthesis, aligner, or surgical guide to be made is shaped three-dimensionally by the physician on the computer screen. In the production stage, this prepared virtual design is turned into tangible materials using three-dimensional printers or milling devices. When the procedures applied under Dentocare Clinic standards are evaluated, it is seen that the aim is to connect these three stages with an uninterrupted data flow. While physical variables such as the shrinkage or deformation of impression material are a factor in classical methods, in the digital workflow, factors related to such physical changes are minimized as much as possible. The physician can examine the patient’s tooth and jaw structure from every angle on the screen, take millimeter measurements, and simulate the compatibility of the planned procedure with the tissues. This entire flow both organizes the physician’s working practice within the clinic and allows the data obtained to be archived in the long term.

How Do Intraoral Scanners Work, and What Are They Used For?

Intraoral scanners are advanced optical reading devices structured to map the teeth and surrounding tissues three-dimensionally, taking thousands of frames per second and combining them. These devices, which replace traditional dough-like impression materials, work on the principle of light reflection, projecting the intraoral topography onto the computer screen in a colored, high-resolution manner. During the scanning process, the tip of the device is moved over the tooth surfaces, and the data obtained is transferred to the software instantly, forming a three-dimensional model. Since this technology eliminates the need to hold a foreign substance in patients’ mouths, it aims to make the process quite comfortable for individuals with a gag reflex. In centers using current infrastructure such as Dentocare Clinic, the digital measurements obtained through intraoral scanners can be sent instantly to the prosthesis laboratory via email or cloud systems, without the need for a physical courier process. The instant feedback system offered by the scanners allows the physician to correct any missing or insufficient area seen in the impression simply by re-scanning that specific area, eliminating the need to retake the entire impression from scratch.

In Which Processes Are CAD/CAM Systems Preferred?

CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) systems represent a technological integration that automates the modeling and casting processes done by hand in a laboratory setting. Data prepared digitally by the physician or transferred digitally to the laboratory is designed using CAD software in a way that is suited to the patient’s facial features, chewing forces, and the anatomy of neighboring teeth. Once the design is approved, thanks to the commands sent to the CAM unit (milling devices), zirconium, porcelain, or hybrid ceramic blocks are shaped by being carved with milling tips. Dentocare Clinic physicians make use of the data from these systems in the planning of patients applying in Kahramanmaraş, aiming to reduce the microscopic deviations that could arise from human hands. These technologies are frequently used in the production stages of crowns, bridges, porcelain veneers (laminate porcelain), and porcelain fillings called inlays/onlays. The wax modeling, investing, firing, and casting stages, which could take days in classic laboratory processes, become shapeable within hours thanks to CAD/CAM milling machines. Thus, the anatomical structure of the prostheses, their occlusion (bite) relationships, and margin fit can be calculated with computer parameters at much more predictable standards.

What Are the Functions of 3D Printers in Dentistry?

Three-dimensional printers are devices that, unlike CAM milling machines that work on a subtractive manufacturing logic, work on the principle of additive manufacturing, forming objects by hardening special liquid resins with light. In dentistry, they have a wide range of uses, especially in the production of models that directly reflect patients’ intraoral structure, the preparation of surgical guide templates, the printing of orthodontic clear aligners, and the production of temporary teeth. When digitally designed data is transferred to a 3D printer, the device forms the physical model by adding layers with a thickness of fractions of a millimeter on top of each other. When planning processes in orthodontics in which teeth are moved stage by stage, the model of each stage is produced from these printers and clear aligners are printed on top of them. In implant surgery planning, after the bone thickness is measured via tomography and the angle and depth of the implant are set digitally, the surgical guides that will direct the physician to this position during the operation are produced with 3D printers. This reduces the possibility of deviating from the planned angle, increasing the predictability of the surgical operation. With developing resin technologies, research continues not only on auxiliary materials but also on producing, with three-dimensional printers, some biocompatible restorative materials intended for permanent use.

What Dimension Does Digital Tomography (CBCT) Bring to the Diagnostic Process?

Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), unlike traditional two-dimensional panoramic X-rays, is an advanced imaging method that allows the patient’s jaw, tooth, sinus, and nerve canal structures to be examined three-dimensionally, in anatomical cross-sections. Since structures overlap in two-dimensional X-rays, clearly measuring certain anatomical details, infections, or bone thicknesses can become difficult. However, thanks to CBCT technology, the height, width, and density of the bone structure can be analyzed to the millimeter. Especially before implant surgery, the exact position of the nerve canal passing through the lower jaw (canalis mandibulae) or the extent of sagging of the sinus cavities in the upper jaw is determined with digital tomography, and the process is planned accordingly. Dentocare Clinic, which operates within the boundaries of Kahramanmaraş, makes use of this three-dimensional data in order to evaluate patients’ anatomical structures in detail and reduce surprise factors. The level of bone resorption in extracted tooth areas, the proximity of wisdom teeth to nerves, jaw joint (TMJ) problems, or the actual size of cysts at the root tip are determined by examination in cross-sections. This technology helps the physician virtually carry out the planned procedure on a computer screen, select material of the appropriate size, and detail the operation map.

How Is Smile Design Shaped in the Digital Environment?

Digital smile design is the process of evaluating characteristic features of the patient, such as facial features, lip structure, gumline, pupils, and skin tone, as a whole and adjusting asymmetries through computer software. This process is carried out not only with intraoral data but also blended with professional photographs of the patient taken from different angles and video recordings showing lip dynamics during speech. The intraoral digital scan data obtained and the studio photographs are superimposed on each other in a special design program. The physician completes the modeling on the photographs by selecting tooth shapes suited to the patient’s gender, age, and characteristics from a virtual library. The most distinctive feature of this application is that, before the procedure even begins, the final appearance of the teeth on the face can be presented to the patient on digital screens. In addition, after the design is complete, temporary plastic trial materials called a “mock-up” are placed on the patient’s teeth without any procedure being performed, allowing functional and aesthetic trials of the process to be done intraorally. In this way, the patient and physician reach a common ground within the framework of expectations and anatomical limits, clarifying the treatment roadmap.

What Innovations Have Digital Technologies Brought to Orthodontic Practice?

Orthodontic applications are a field focused on correcting dental crowding and bite problems. Processes that in past years proceeded using metal wires and brackets have today taken on a different dimension with digital planning software and clear aligner systems. When the three-dimensional measurements taken with an intraoral scanner are uploaded into orthodontic software, all the movements of the teeth from their starting position to their final position are calculated to the millimeter. Through animations created in the computer environment, this process, spread over months, can be played back virtually, and the outcome can be evaluated in advance. In line with these calculations, successive series of clear aligners that will apply force to bring the teeth to the determined position are produced. In centers that integrate modern technological developments into their practice, such as Dentocare Clinic, these clear aligner technologies, which help orthodontic patients complete the process without experiencing physical difficulties such as wire or bracket irritation, are frequently considered. Thanks to digital software, not only the movements of the teeth but also the effects of these movements on the roots and jawbone are analyzed, supporting more stable planning. Since patients can remove their aligners while eating or brushing their teeth, they can maintain their oral hygiene habits in a standard manner.

Why Are Digital Shade-Matching Devices (Spectrophotometers) Used?

In dental restorations, it is of great aesthetic importance for the porcelain or zirconium material to be made to match the natural tooth color exactly. Traditionally, physicians determine the color by holding the shade guides provided by laboratories next to the patient’s tooth and making use of ambient light, judging by eye. However, factors such as the lighting of the environment, different times of day, reflection of wall colors, or eye fatigue can lead to differences in color perception. Digital color measurement devices (spectrophotometers) are used to eliminate these variables. When the device is brought into contact with the tooth surface, it analyzes the light reflected from the tooth’s enamel and dentin layers using its own standard LED light source. It turns not just a single color of the tooth, but the color transitions in the cervical, middle, and incisal areas, the degree of translucency, and brightness values into mathematical data. This map obtained is sent digitally to the laboratory technician, making it easier for the material to be produced to reasonably match the natural tooth’s light transmission and color depth.

How Does the Digital Dentistry Workflow Affect Laboratory Communication?

The communication network between the clinic and the prosthesis laboratory has a direct effect on the quality of the resulting material. In the classic workflow, the process of sending impressions by courier, pouring them into plaster at the laboratory, preparing the model, and having it delivered back to the clinic via courier is a cycle that can take days. During this period, dimensional changes in the impression material or breakage in the plaster models during transport can occur. In the digital workflow, the process instead proceeds through cloud-based systems. The moment the physician scans the patient, the data lands on the laboratory’s screen within seconds. By opening the design software, the technician can carry out analyses on the model simultaneously with the physician, or over the phone, evaluate the margin lines (tooth cutting lines), and, if there is any issue, ask the physician to rescan before the patient has even left the chair. The digitalization vision of establishments such as Dentocare Clinic, which serves the Kahramanmaraş area, includes adopting these communication protocols that minimize time loss and allow for instant intervention. At the same time, since patients’ past data can be stored undamaged in digital archives, it becomes possible to produce a new item in the same shape based on the old files in the event of a fracture or a need for prosthesis replacement in later years.