CAD/CAM Technology For Fabricating Complete Dentures

The process for fabricating complete dentures has three major steps: the impression procedures, the denture design and the denture fabrication.

This paper is about the fabrication of a removable complete denture using CAD/CAM technology. It has the potential to simplify the traditional process and resolve the associated problems. CAD/CAM technique is a two-step appointment process. Impressions, jaw relation records, occlusal plane orientation, tooth mold, shade selection and maxillary anterior tooth positioning record are registered in the first appointment. The second appointment is for insertion.

Introduction

Computer Aided Design – Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology has already been used significantly in dentistry. CAD software defines the geometry of an object while the CAM software directs the fabrication process.

In the early 1980s, CAD/CAM was used to produce clinical dental restorations when Andersson envisioned the use of titanium for fabrication of crowns. Another important dental application of CAD/CAM technology also occurred in the 1980s. Mörmann developed an interest in tooth-colored restorations. In September of that same year, he placed the first chairside fabricated ceramic restoration with equipment introduced and marked as the CEREC 1 system. In the recent 20 years, dozens of dental CAD/CAM systems have been presented for inlay, crown, veneer and fixed partial denture.

However, the development on CAD/CAM for removable complete denture has been very slow. Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) has not been successfully applied in this field. Goodacre et al wrote, “When the CAD/CAM technology for fabricating complete dentures becomes commercially available, it will be possible to scan the denture base morphology and tooth positions recorded with this technique and import those data into a virtual tooth arrangement program where teeth can be articulated and then export the data to a milling device for the fabrication of the complete dentures”. 

Over years, different methods for duplicating and fabricating complete dentures using CAD/CAM system have been tried. With the introduction of commercially available CAD/CAM denture systems like AvaDent and Dentca, Inc., the era of digital complete dentures has arrived.

The purpose of this article is to describe the clinical procedure required to fabricate a complete denture using CAD/CAM technology.

Conventional fabrication technique of a removable complete denture

Removable complete denture is a dental prosthesis, which replaces the entire dentition and associated structures of the maxilla and mandible⁹. A complete denture functions to restore aesthetics, mastication and speech. It has various parts and surfaces such as denture base, flange of denture, denture teeth and denture border.

The conventional complete denture technique is a five-step appointment process
– Making preliminary impressions
– Making final impressions
– Creating jaw relationship records
– Arranging prosthetic teeth and try-in

– Placement/insertion of complete dentures