UNLOCKING THE STUDENTS POTENTIAL: TRAINING STUDENTS TO FABRICATE TOOTH COLORED RESTORATIONS UTILIZING CAD/CAM TECHNOLOGY IN TWO PROGRESSIVE MODES

Training students in the use of CEREC Blue light LED technology to fabricate chairside tooth colored restorations utilizing two innovative modes of fabricating the restorations Bigeneric Individual and Biogeneric Copy, enhances a student's ability to apply this technology. At the New York University College of Dentistry students are trained in both modes to enable better decision making when designing these restorations. Many clinical situations may require that the final restoration of a tooth be an exact copy of a tooth such as when fabricating an indirect tooth colored restoration, a ceramic crown, or when duplicating adjacent teeth in the Esthetic zone. In the Biogeneric Copy mode, a digital picture of the unprepared tooth, and another digital impression of the prepared tooth is taken. The software transfers the occlusal aspects of the tooth in a preoperative condition and enhances the rest of the restoration. The final design of the restoration will be the same as the tooth prior to tooth preparation, in most cases the occlusal surface does not require adjustment. In Biogeneric Individual mode, a digital impression is required of the upper and lower quadrant, and a digital impression of the facial surfaces of teeth, in addition to a digital impression of the teeth in maximum inter-cuspation. The neighboring teeth are analyzed, and the software creates a restoration proposal from a virtual model. The faculty and student are able to modify the contact points and contour of the virtual restoration, and if necessary adjust the cervical embrasures before the milling process. Conclusion: Utilizing CEREC Blue light LED technology the dental student is able to fabricate accurate chairside tooth colored restorations capable of imitating pre-existing dentitions or restoring dentitions to appropriate/optimal contours. (abstract accepted at ADEA /Boston 3/7/15-3/10/15) Objective: The objective of this paper is to explain two of the different modalities that the CEREC CAD/CAM system offers, the Biogeneric Copy and Biogeneric Individual utilizing digital impression to design and fabricate chair side CAD/CAM restorations, that are taught to students at New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD).