The Future of Digital Dentures. By Ryan Bant, Dentsply Sirona

The future of digital dentures

RYAN BANT, DIGITAL LABORATORY TEAM LEAD AT DENTSPLY SIRONA DISCUSSES THE LUCITONE DIGITAL PRINT DENTURE SYSTEM AND THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL DENTAL LABS

The world of laboratories has drastically changed over the past decade: during this time, crown, bridge and implant labs have dominated the conversion to digital workflows while prosthetic departments have been left in the shadows.

The steady, unstoppable shift and demand for digital dentures commands them to adapt at a much faster rate. I truly believe digital dentures to be the last piece of the puzzle for the future of digital laboratories, as it offers an easy solution to eliminate the traditional mundane tasks of an understaffed industry, already bursting at the seams.

A GATEWAY TO DIGITAL We all know the labs’ staffing crisis isn’t getting any better; but digital is, and for prosthetic labs now is the time to join the journey. Lucitone Digital Print is effectively designed to put dentures into the digital arena with its ease-of-use workflows that drastically reduce processing times with very little specialised training necessary.

The Lucitone Digital Print Denture System is a selection of new generation high impact 3D materials with a one-of-a-kind position locator system that enables plug ‘n’ play assembly, while pre-configured and pre-occluded CAD libraries facilitate quick design solutions for both try-ins and finish. However, Lucitone Digital Print is more than that; it is a gateway for forwardthinking labs to be part of the next big digital change, digital dentures.

THE ONLY WAY FORWARD With that being said, the skills of the CDTs and prosthetic technicians remain crucial. But just like the change to digital for crown, bridge and implant labs, the true shifting point that will drive us towards digital dentures will be when we, as an industry, accept that this is our only way forward. The digital change we see today is only just getting started, but we are already running out of time to learn from the best professionals, with the average age of UK technicians continuing to rise.

Lucitone Digital Print provides an answer to this issue by digitising and efficiently helping improve denture workflows. A key example of the benefits in terms of efficiency for a lab’s day to day is the ‘reference denture technique’. Most patients get a new denture while already having an existing one: with digital dentures, a simple wash impression of the existing denture can be scanned and sent to the lab within seconds, while the original denture can be immediately returned to the patient. Once the lab has the digital data and instructions for the case, it is ready to design either a copy of the existing denture or its amended version. The case is now ‘already ready’ to be printed.

The result is that with only two appointments the patient has a new and improved digital denture; not to mention, if the denture ever gets lost, the lab can simply just reprint it.

DIGITAL EFFICIENCY In addition, traditional denture processes have always generated a great amount of waste; Lucitone Digital Print eliminates this almost entirely thanks to the digitisation.

These are just a few examples of the benefits. Digital workflows are continuously proving to be efficient; now it is time for labs to realise that digital is here to help them too. I, myself, have grown up and worked in laboratories all my life and have witnessed first-hand the (once) inconceivable improvement handed to us by the digital sphere, particularly in terms of capacity, simplicity, accuracy and consistency.

For those labs interested in making the change towards digital dentures but too busy to take on additional work, Dentsply Sirona provides trainings as well as granting access to online learning portals. The main learning curve will be the design stage, but we are lucky to have some of the greatest design centres in the UK: so you can sit back, press print, have a cup of tea and do it all over again.

Labs have reached a stage where they know they must adopt digital workflows to be part of the future, while supporting the next generation of UK Labs. As our world and the dental industry becomes increasingly digitised, labs need to ensure they are on the pathway to prosperity - a term I like, although not often used when talking about dentures.

This is in fact an exciting time to be a lab owner or technician, and despite many challenges, it is time to adopt the change that offers significant quality and productivity enhancements as well as the opportunity to play an active part in advancing an industry.

My remaining and only question for all prosthetic labs in the UK is: why flask, pack, pour, knock-out and trim dentures if you can use that time to print more?

Lucitone Digital Print is currently validated on Carbon and Asiga printers and the team at Dentsply Sirona are there to support labs with their digital denture journey.

To find out more about Lucitone Digital Print Dentures please visit https://www.

dentsplysirona.com/en-gb/categories/ lab/lucitone-digital-print.html

If you want to hear what some of the best professionals in the industry have to say about the future of Laboratories, tune in to ‘Let’s Talk Lab’, a new podcast series hosted by Ryan Bant, where industry experts and peers come together to discuss the current and future landscape of the dental technologies industry. You can subscribe to the podcast series now on your preferred podcast channel.