Instead of making a mold and
sending it to a lab for scanning, dentists are now using a small
camera to scan misshapen teeth. The digitized scan is then sent to
an on-site milling machine that carves a crown from a block of
porcelain. After preparation the crown is ready to be implanted.
The whole process is not much different than currently done. The
area is numbed, and the dentist drills the tooth to shape it for the
crown. Then the dentist uses a tiny camera to create a
three-dimensional image of the drilled tooth. A computer program
uses that to construct an image of what the tooth will look like
with the crown in place. The image is transmitted to a machine on
site mills the crown which is then glued on in the same process
currently used.
Currently, the process is in use by about 10% of dentists, but will
be used by more as the price of equipment comes down.
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