“Common Sense” versus “Dollars and Cents”
Aug 17, 2016
As the digital world continues to grow in the dental world, more and more options are becoming available to use.
Some examples are:
- Several types of Zirconia
a) High Translucency lower strength
b) Less translucent higher strength
- RPD’s
- Temporaries
- Abutments
- Models
We incorporated the digital process into our production system to become more efficient without sacrificing our quality or standards. As a bi-product we are able to offer certain restorations at a lower cost and still maintain high standards.
The zirconia we purchase is from a reputable company (Jensen Dental) with high ISO standards. There are several inexpensive options in the market place for zirconia (some are a quarter of the cost of the zirconia we purchase), but when tested these inexpensive options are less reliable, have a much higher failure rate as well as an inconsistent aesthetic outcome.
RPD’s and temporaries seem to work well in the digital workflow but once again the materials and choice of CAD/CAM system you use can make a major difference in the restoration.
Models that are printed cannot be used for minimally invasive large restorations but can be used in other types of dentistry. Milled models appear to be more accurate.
I saved abutments for last. You can get a digital abutment from several places these days; one abutment is cheaper than the other; so the choice is simple - why not save money? Is the simple choice the right choice?
There is a lot to consider:
- Is the final abutment FDA approved or cleared? (check out this article recently released by the NADL https://nadl.org/news/index.cfm#n1851 )
- How many years of experience does this company have in producing the abutments?
- How many failures have they had and why?
- What are the tolerances of the interface?
At Jason J. Kim Dental Aesthetics we chose Atlantis to manufacture our digital abutments and of course the parent companies of the implant systems. Using the parent company is an obvious choice but why Atlantis and not all these “less expensive milling centers”?
The main reasons were:
- They have years of experience
- Over a 1,600,000 abutments delivered with extremely low failure rate
- Fit is well within parameters
- Abutment is computer generated (not by the hands of differently skilled techs)
- Warranty is the same or better as that of the manufacturer of the implant
- Tissue is supported the way Dr. needs it to be
- Impeccable service and turn around time
If quality is very high and standards are predictable is it really more costly? Don’t trip over a dollar to save quarter.
Written by Marcello Allegra, Director of Sales and Marketing