February 5, 2010
Here’s an email I received from the folks at 3M –
“I’ve attached information regarding another live Webinar opportunity for
you or your customers to view a clinical case from Dr. George Warga, a Lava
Chairside Oral Scanner user from the Chicago area. He will cover a variety
of topics, including the use of diagnostic models and multiple prep cases.
His presentation will include case photos from prep to cementation.
One of the key pieces of information most doctors want before purchasing
new technology is discussion with another doctor who has already made the
commitment. 3M ESPE has created a way to accomplish this by hosting live
Webinars. These on-line forums, which can be experienced from office or
home, include a digital impression case presentation and on-line discussion
led by an experienced Lava COS user.
There is no charge for this Webinar, but you must pre-register to reserve
your spot. Your seat is paid for by 3M ESPE, a proud supporter of CE for
the dental professional. The first 200 registrants will be able to
participate in the live Webinar, and will have the opportunity to e-mail
questions directly to Dr. Warga during the Webinar.
Presenter: George Warga, DDS
Topic: Lava™ Chairside Oral Scanner C.O.S. — Stress Free Predictable
Restorations
Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Time: 7:00 – 8:00 PM CST
Credit: 1 CE Unit Upon Completion”
February 3, 2010
Just want everyone to know that since I updated my WordPress software a couple of weeks ago, I have been unable to respond to your Comments.
Not being rude.
I have a call into my host. Hopefully, we’ll get the issue resolved, and then I’ll respond to all your questions and comments.
Thanks for your patience.
February 1, 2010
One of our missions is to strive to find ways to provide our clients with great value. Here’s a demo case I made recently featuring one of our Impak titanium milled custom abutments restored with an SDL ORIGINal Z FCZ.
We began by scanning and designing the abutment using our 3Shape CAD software. This particular implant was a Biomet 3i Certain 6.0. We put the margins on the abutment approximately 0.5mm sub-gingival on the facial and interproximal surfaces, and left it at tissue height on the lingual. You can see we also gave the abutment an anatomical shape with greater reduction in the central dissectional groove area to allow room for more realistic occlusal anatomy in the final restoration.
Once we were happy with the design, we remitted the file to our USA-based milling facility for fabrication of the abutment. NO EXPENSIVE UCLA ABUTMENT WAS REQUIRED!!!
The turnaround time from the milling center is approximately 2-3 days. Once we received the finished abutment, we verified the fit, design and marginal placement before performing a 3Shape scan of the abutment on the model. This scan served as the basis for designing and milling our own SDL ORIGINal Z FCZ.
I chose to use the auto-degrade feature of the occlusal anatomy in an effort to match the adjacent teeth, which I’m not sure I would do in retrospect. Anyway, the crown was milled using our Origin HT Zirconia with a flexural strength of 950 MPa. I wanted to see if the more translucent material would cover the titanium abutment without any undue influence on the final shade, and I would say the answer is “Yes”.
Is it the prettiest crown I’ve ever made? No, but its certainly passable in the posterior, and the real story here is the value of the entire complex.
Implant Model: $50
ImPak Titanium Abutment: $212
SDL FCZ: $119
Total: $381
That’s a pretty amazing cost structure for restoring a single posterior implant!
The only items not included in this fee would be the impression coping, the abutment replica, and the final gold screw (A lab screw is supplied with the abutment).
Next time you do a case with a cast custom abutment and a PFM – both containing high noble white gold at the minimum – compare the value. And, don’t forget to include the cost of the UCLA Abutment…
January 28, 2010
I hate making mistakes, and I made a doozy.
It seems that our seminar featuring Dr. Bob Lamb which was scheduled for April 16, 2010 is in direct conflict with a CE event being hosted by the Northern Virginia Dental Society (NVDS). I swear I checked their website before scheduling Dr. Lamb, but evidently something wasn’t working that day – my eyes or brain (Take your pick).
Anyway, Dr. Lamb has been kind enough to allow us to reschedule for May 7th. Same time and same venue. Check out the sidebar for the new info.
Sorry for the confusion.
