CAD/CAM-technology enables dentist and dental technicians to supply their patients on a reproducable high quality level. Adj. Professor Dr. Joannis Katsoulis, University of Bern/Switzerland, shows the possibilities and advantages of CAD/CAM-fabricated titanium bars for implant overdentures (IODS) for edentulous and atrophic jaws. Inevitably loss of teeth and atrophy of the alveolar bone lead to reduction of the keratinized gingiva, a high base of the mouth and an elapsed vestibulum.
Therefore there is no denture base suitable for a total, completely mucosal provisioning. For more than 30 years now bars for implant overdentures are applied for denture fixation. Those bars were fabricated of highly gold-bearing alloys for long with high fracture risk, especially at the joint of distal extensions. Using the CAD/CAM-technique the bars are milled of one piece. This guarantees homogeneity and fracture strength.
Additionally the interactive software enables planning of implant prosthodontics which involves the milling center as well as the dentist and the dental technician. The reproducable precision of the structure, its ‚passive fit’ and margin gaps of less than 40 μm in three to six bar segments are the main advantages of CAD/CAM-titanium bars.
