Having picked up digital dentistry from the start of her career, Eboni-Rose Williams shares the advantages this has given her.
My interest in digital dentistry began when I was eight months into a placement, making special trays and bite blocks during my first year of university. When a teacher told me that special trays could be made with a 3D printer, this sounded like magic to me!
I struggled making special trays, undercuts were always a problem (we used wet tissue as a spacer) and every other week I would have bur burned thumbs…
When I started my digital journey, I was clueless. I started with just an old 2012 Macbook. But I did it! I cracked the art of making special trays and proudly got Michael Gregory’s approval!
I did this all in my second year of university during the summer break. I also had the great opportunity of working in a private prosthetics laboratory where I learnt 3shape, CAD and 3D printing. After six months, I became more comfortable using it and saw my work improve through lots of practice and patience.
Quicker, easier, rewarding
I have pursued a digital approach to stay up to date in the field. Due to digital design time being significantly quicker than analogue, I find it easier to practise and improve. Digital dentistry can complement technical, hands-on analogue skills; it should not be viewed as a replacement for them.
I like exploring how workflow might be aided by the combined application of digital and analogue techniques. Personally, I have utilised CAD and 3D printing to make learning materials for myself to practise my analogue skills.
Digital dentistry offers a challenging yet rewarding learning experience that I thoroughly enjoy. I see it as a tool to aid our lab lives, improve communication and to do our least favourite jobs… like special trays and casting models. Yes, secondary models are essential for dentures, but for whitening trays, for example, it frees up time for the dental technician.
Digital dentistry and recruitment
Having had the opportunity to learn analogue alongside digital as a student, I feel there is less of a difficult learning curve or transition. Students have the advantage of becoming skilled in more than one specialism due to the large range of CAD applications. Furthermore, as beginners, the lack of years of muscle memory and mastering analogue techniques make learning digital design easier to pick up.
Digital dentistry is having a very positive impact on recruitment and inspiring others to join the industry. I have noticed that the majority of my peers are excited to use CAD and want to excel in it. The career opportunities seem exciting once proficient in digital designing, which I think is encouraging more students to learn CAD and choose it as a specialism. As a result, this is encouraging more students to pursue dental technology.
A place for analogue
Analogue methods will always be needed and required to make high quality appliances. For example, if digital equipment breaks, analogue methods or outsourcing as a back-up plan is essential.
I have also noticed that the best CAD technicians have many years of experience with analogue. Therefore, it is important to get the basics correct by hand before trying to master digital alone.
Yes, dental software can design a full-full denture in 30 seconds itself, but a good technician needs to check that the teeth are on the ridge and within the neutral zone. However, a great technician will ensure that it does not have a negative smile line and that the central incisal edge is 7mm from the incisive papilla etc… all things learned with experience at the bench.
With this in mind, since digital dentures are quicker to construct and learn from, understanding anatomical landmarks and the ideal denture using digital may be easier. After learning digitally, students can feel more comfortable with anatomical considerations and utilise the design as a guide while making an analogue denture. However, analogue techniques will still be needed for quality control, detailed personalisation and in case of digital failures or breakages.
Dual approach
Dental technology is a very artistic job, and analogue seems to have superior aesthetics. However, Lucitone 3D printed dentures look just as fantastic. I believe digital dentistry is there to complement and aid workflow, not replace us.
The art of customising a digital denture with composite or stains, as well as matching the colour of a crown to the existing teeth, requires our technical skills. It will be a while until CAD can catch up to replicating natural dentition straight from mill or print. At the very least, quality control from technicians will always be required.
To conclude, I believe that digital dentistry is exciting and essential to embrace. A balanced approach that utilises the strengths of both digital and analogue methods is the way forward. I am optimistic for the future of dentistry with the integration of both approaches.
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