A fully digital workflow is a commonly used phrased in the dental field today. A digital workflow involves ONLY technology to plan and fabricate your cases.

At Styledent, we have a different phrase we like to use: “digi-log” using “digital” and “analog” ways of making dental prosthesis. We believe not every case can be 100% digital; judgement and experience should be used for every case that is worked on.

Here are a few ways that we use “digi-log” in the lab and how it becomes beneficial in planning your patient’s restorations:

• The patient’s face is included while making a digital wax-up. This allows the dental technician to visualize shape, midline, occlusional plane, etc. When combined with the diagnostic wax-up, it becomes easier to discuss with the clinician the appropriate reduction that is needed for the case.

• We use old fashioned hand pieces with diamond burs. Once the model is printed and post processed, we like to create surface texture and play with some lines and angles, by working on the case by hand. It gives a different perspective than what is seen on the screen, and this allows us to add important details that could have been missed.

• We deliver a reduction guide and putty matrix of the wax-up to the clinician. The reduction guide clearly communicates what we need from the clinician to achieve the desired result. The putty matrix is used for a quick smile mock-up try-in of the smile directly in the patient’s mouth, allowing the patient to test-drive their new smile before the treatment begins.

The “digi-log” way has helped our teams produce predictable high end restorations while keeping realistic turnaround times for our clients.

On the Gram…