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June 2009 | Dental Lab Products
Forward Trends: Digital Impressions

3M digital workflow offers multiple entries

Wayne Roen, Business Director, Digital Restorative Dentistry, describes how emerging and existing 3M ESPE technologies expand the options for labs wanting to go digital.

DLP: With the introduction of the Lava C.O.S. (Chairside Oral Scanner), 3M ESPE has connected the practice with the laboratory. Does your digital workflow model pertain only to those invested in 3M ESPE Lava technology?

Roen: Any laboratory can take advantage of the Lava Precision Solutions digital platform, whether you’ve invested in Lava technology or not. Dentists can send a Lava C.O.S. digital impression file to their lab of choice, even one that does not have the Lava design software. In this case, the file is rerouted behind the scenes to a laboratory that has the software to handle margin marking. A critical component of this process is the fact the lab marking the margin cannot see any doctor or patient information. Once the margin is marked, the file is sent simultaneously to the model manufacturing facility for production of the articulated SLA model with trimmed and cut dies and back to the lab for design and production of the restoration. The laboratory designated by the doctor receives the SLA model plus the prescribed components for casting, pressing, or finishing. They don’t have to worry about losing their doctor clients nor do they need to make any investment in capital equipment. The Lava Precision Solutions platform offers Lava investors and non-investors alike expanded restorative options and many different levels of entry into the digital workflow.

DLP: How does the Lava C.O.S. technology differ from other chairside capture systems?

Roen: We are the only system on the market that is a video capture system. Point-and-click technology has been around for more than 20 years, and our scientists are the only ones who have elevated the process from pictures to video. For every second the wand is in the patient’s mouth, it is capturing 20 3D data sets per second. If you do a 2-minute arch, you are capturing more than 2400 data sets. For comparison, point-and-click technology captures one 3D data set per click. The wand is significantly smaller than some of the other systems—the distal tip is only 13.2-mm wide and it weighs less than a pound—yet there’s 192 LED lights that ring the surface to illuminate the mouth. Our system does not require the user to rest the tip on the tooth, but be between 5 and 15 mm from the surface, and the system will tell you if you are within that range.

For the user, you instantly see on-screen what you are capturing in the mouth. Its user-friendly interface tells you if data is missing. If you need to capture additional data, you can just go right back in, capture it, and the system merges it automatically.

DLP: If any lab can get involved with no capital investment, how does the Lava Scan ST fit into your vision?
Roen: Digital impressions are exciting, and they are certainly going to be the standard in the future, but not every doctor is ready for digital intraoral impressions.

DLP: How does a lab manage the transition from traditional to digital?

Roen: The Lava Scan ST and the Lava Design Software provide labs with high quality scans and the tools to not only manage that transition but to do it productively. The seamless integration with the No. 1 zirconia brand on the market is important, but what many labs don’t realize is that with our selective open architecture, labs can digitally design copings and full anatomy for a PFM restoration and send them directly to a wax printer. For labs looking to make that next step, the Lava Scan ST is a very attractive option to begin the digital journey.

DLP: 3M ESPE recently purchased IMTEC Corp., which has developed impression-scanning technology. What are your plans to incorporate the IMTEC Sprite digital impression scanner into the Lava workflow?

Roen: Think of Sprite as a concept car we are working on moving to a production-ready product, producing the high-quality solutions our customers have come to expect from us. The Lava digital workflow opens up wonderful possibilities of input and output devices to bring efficiency and choice to the workflow of operatories and laboratories.

DLP: What is the technology behind the Sprite impression scanner?

Roen: Other impression scanning devices incorporate a laser to capture data. The challenge with a laser is to get around edges and holes found in impressions. The IMTEC Sprite scanner uses CT scanning technology that goes through solid objects. IMTEC has used this for the Invisalign impression scanning on an industrial basis, handling thousands of scans each day. What we’re working on now is integrating this technology into the lab workflow, into applications for crown and bridge, and into the Lava Precision Solutions or other digital workflow models.

DLP: Could the Sprite expand on the capabilities of 3M Authorized Lava Design Centers as impression scanning facilities, helping other labs completely eliminate model making?

Roen: The potential is absolutely there. The lab of the future could have a stone model scanner or an impression scanner, the software to receive the digital impression scans from the dentist and design software to design restorations. The Sprite offers the high-volume capacity to make that a possibility, scanning multiple impressions simultaneously.

IMTEC also manufactures the Illuma CBCT scanner, which is a high-quality CT scanner primarily for operatory use. However, a lab could purchase one as a centralized service to practices for capturing digital full mouth data. We see integrating cone beam as just a natural extension. Some of the potential directions could be for surgical guides and surgical treatment planning, implant restorations, and the ability to do some more dynamic articulation.

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• Lava C.O.S.

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