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HELSINKI, Finland: Brazilian prosthodontist Dr Thiago Ottoboni made the transition to digital dentistry a couple of years ago. Today, he uses digital dental solutions for both composite and ceramic restorations in order to achieve long-lasting and high-quality aesthetic results and recommends digital dentistry to everyone.
“Digital workflows are not automatically better than analogical workflows, but a dentist can achieve amazing results in planning and execution using digital tools, for example, to guide dental surgery, in endodontic treatments and even in treatments using composite resin,” he explained. Indeed, for direct composite restorations, Ottoboni and his colleague Dr Lincoln Queirós have developed a digital workflow that includes using digitally planned and 3D-printed guides for building the restorations from composite resin.
“Our technique for working with composite restorations is unique. The digital workflow allows us to define the thickness of the dentine and the enamel, design the shape of the teeth, create digital wax-ups for the desired outcome and print guides for the application with a 3D printer. The printed guides help dentists deliver the enamel and dentine as digitally planned, so it is easier to perform direct restorations by hand, something which has been challenging for many,” he explained.
Ottoboni prefers using direct composite restorations for anterior teeth to maximise the visual outcome. To create the desired aesthetics with the help of 3D-printed guides, he uses instruments from LM-Dental, a subsidiary of Planmeca, for composite layering. “I have worked with LM-Dental instruments since 2017. They are the best instruments in the world,” he stated.
Convinced by the digital Planmeca ecosystem
Besides direct restorative treatments, Ottoboni uses digital tools for working with ceramic materials as well. Currently, he uses digital solutions for taking impressions of patients’ teeth and for designing the restorations. He plans to add manufacturing capabilities to his clinic in the future.
Ottoboni invested in a Planmeca Emerald S intra-oral scanner roughly half a year ago and is now using the scanner daily to take digital impressions of patients’ teeth. He previously used another scanner but decided to switch to Planmeca. One of the things that convinced Ottoboni was the complete Planmeca ecosystem, which, according to him, is superior to competitors’ systems.
“I chose Planmeca Emerald S after talking with Dr Rui Falacho, the president of the European Academy of Digital Dentistry, and after learning more about the digital workflows of Planmeca. The scanner is very, very fast and easy to use,” he said.
The transition from using another scanner to the Planmeca one was also simple and fast. It only took Ottoboni a couple of days to learn the fast scanning technique and how to use Planmeca Romexis software. According to him, the software is also very intuitive: “For example, it is very simple to create a hollow model and export it for printing or design a precise ceramic restoration with the CAD/CAM module. I can also easily export files and send them to my dental technician for manufacturing.”
Having used Planmeca Emerald S for a while now, Ottoboni is pleased with the state-of-the-art Planmeca technology and the personal support provided by the local Planmeca team. “It has always been my dream to buy a Planmeca chair. For me, Planmeca is the best brand in the world. I used to think that Planmeca equipment was too expensive for me. However, after talking with the Planmeca Brazil team about some upcoming projects, I found out that I had been wrong and made the investment,” he explained.
“Now, my brother, with whom I’m working, and I have plans to get the complete Planmeca workflow, including the scanner, 3D printer and perhaps the milling unit, in order to be able to produce some of the ceramic restorations in-house. Currently, I need to send the scans to my dental technician who works in another city here in Brazil, so it is a bit time-consuming. I’m sure I’ll continue collaborating with him in the future as well, but I am planning to use the same-day approach with some of the cases.”
“Planmeca is an amazing company and I am pleased and proud to work with it,” Ottoboni concluded.
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