Status of Current CAD/CAM Technology in Dental Medicine

This article provides an overview of the status of current CAD/CAM technology and possible development trends. In addition to a description of the different CAD/CAM components required for producing computer-assisted dental restorations, innovative design methods recently introduced into dental technology are also mentioned. In the description of the practical application of the current CAD/ CAM systems, the possibilities and limits of the present-day techniques and future outlook are illustrated. In this context, the current range of materials available for the computer-assisted production of biocompatible and at the same time highquality dental restorations is also discussed. In conclusion, the different economic concepts coming into consideration in view of the high investment costs of the current CAD/CAM systems are presented and discussed. Keywords: CAD/CAM, digital data acquisition, production of computerassisted dental restorations, new production technologies, NPM alloy, titanium, zirconium oxide