CAD / CAM Technology Dental Implants Crowns more accurating and comfortable
Customized or custom abutments first became popular after the UCLA abutment was introduced to the market. UCLA abutments provide a means for waxing the emergence profiles of the transgingival portion of the abutment, flexibility in margin level placement,
and the correction of angulation problems. Following this success, manufacturers have focused on developing different techniques for fabricating customized abutments .
There are three major techniques of customizing implant abutments:
1. Milling (starting from a bulky titanium abutment).
2. Manual modeling (creating a model for casting or scanning).
3. Virtual modeling (designing a model in a virtual environment) .
After the fabrication and customization steps, a second process of fine adjustment is required to perfect the abutment fit. The quality and design of the rotary instruments used will have a direct impact on the final outcome of the custom abutment.
CAD/CAM technology has enabled technicians to fabricate patient- or site-specific abutments from titanium and zirconium blanks. The CAD/CAM systems that are used in the fabrication of custom abutments generally consist of three modules:
1. A scanner, which scans a solid model and converts the model into a virtual digital model.
2. Design software, which is used to design the custom abutment.
3. A milling machine, which mills the designed abutment out of titanium or zirconium blanks.
