I'm from a dental office and I think the customer service when we have needed it has been fantastic. Most recently we had a material failure and needed a replacement, I called the home office and within that 15 minute phone call Ericka helped me reor...read moreI'm from a dental office and I think the customer service when we have needed it has been fantastic. Most recently we had a material failure and needed a replacement, I called the home office and within that 15 minute phone call Ericka helped me reorder the part and we got it the next day. She dealt with the warranty and it was about as easy an experiencevas I've ever had.In my mind when so many products are similar, the stand out has to be the people working with you. This company is doing something right.read less - 9/25/2026
Gevik Marcarian
Great experience so far from sales to tech support. - 9/17/2026
Chelsea Bricker
Working with CAD-Ray has been a great experience. The support is friendly and available when I need them. - 9/08/2026
Dr. Emmanuelle Zennie
I’ve been a customer of cadray since 2022, they have always been professional, efficient and attentive. From the purchase of the equipment to warranty support, with the consistent and reliable rapport from our tech support specialist Ericka, they hel...read moreI’ve been a customer of cadray since 2022, they have always been professional, efficient and attentive. From the purchase of the equipment to warranty support, with the consistent and reliable rapport from our tech support specialist Ericka, they helped a technologically challenged dentist (me) cross over to digital dentistry. Thank you CadRay!🩷read less - 9/03/2026
R B
Such a great customer service! If i were to buy another scanner, I would buy with them - 8/21/2026
Smiles On Greatwood
Ericka Garcia was able to move her schedule around to do a last minute Zoom training with me since I has free time with no patients. She was very knowledgable and went over test pt scans with me practicing while on the Zoom. - 8/20/2026
Zirkarts Dental Laboratory
I am a prosthodontist and lab owner, and I have been working in the digital dentistry world for more than 15 years, with experience using many different companies and systems.After replacing a couple of milling units, I had the opportunity and good f...read moreI am a prosthodontist and lab owner, and I have been working in the digital dentistry world for more than 15 years, with experience using many different companies and systems.After replacing a couple of milling units, I had the opportunity and good fortune to work with Cad-Ray. As we all know, starting a new relationship can sometimes be a little hit or miss. In the beginning, things were not completely smooth, but what truly makes a company great and successful is its service, dedication, and commitment to its clients—especially when there are a few hiccups along the way.Cad-Ray has been absolutely fantastic. Their entire team has gone above and beyond my expectations, and I genuinely feel that I have found a company I can work with for a long time.I am now a big fan and would not hesitate to purchase through Cad-Ray again. Thank you to the entire team for your dedication, support, and commitment to your clients.God bless you guys!Giancarlo Romero DDS, MSread less - 8/15/2026
Liliana Paz
Their support post sale is really what makes them 5 stars. I was able to reach out and get help with my questions immediately, even when I had a patient in the chair. The continuity of support is excellent, Heather handled it start to finish. Respons...read moreTheir support post sale is really what makes them 5 stars. I was able to reach out and get help with my questions immediately, even when I had a patient in the chair. The continuity of support is excellent, Heather handled it start to finish. Responsive and helpful!read less - 8/13/2026
Steven Oshins
I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Ericka multiple times in the past week. She is pleasant, knowledgeable, and very personable. Ericka addressed all of my concerns in a timely manner. I find the company easily available and ...read moreI've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Ericka multiple times in the past week. She is pleasant, knowledgeable, and very personable. Ericka addressed all of my concerns in a timely manner. I find the company easily available and responsive for all remote assistance.read less - 8/11/2026
Missy
I want to give a special shout-out to Griffen and the entire CAD RAY technical support team for their outstanding service and support. Griffen has recently gone above and beyond to help us with our dental equipment. He is knowledgeable, patient, prof...read moreI want to give a special shout-out to Griffen and the entire CAD RAY technical support team for their outstanding service and support. Griffen has recently gone above and beyond to help us with our dental equipment. He is knowledgeable, patient, professional, and truly takes the time to make sure our questions and concerns are addressed.We have also had a wonderful experience with the entire CAD RAY team. Personally we have had the chance to work with Frank and Ryan as well, and they too are amazing! Everyone we have worked with has been responsive, helpful, and committed to getting our issues resolved as quickly as possible.Having a dependable support team is so important in a busy dental office, and CAD RAY has consistently shown us that we can count on them when we need help.Thank you, Griffen and the entire CAD RAY team, for your exceptional customer service and continued support. We truly appreciate everything you do!Annette-Medina Family Dentalread less - 8/07/2026
daniela inman
Thank you so much for your help Erika for your promotion responses and help.You are awesome ! - 7/30/2026
Alex Besmer
I had the best experience with Mr. Bonner and Mr. Cortes. I can’t say I’m the easiest customer and they made this whole process seamless and easy. I’d recommend them to any dentist looking to get into digital workflows. - 7/23/2026
Alaa Moustafa, DDS, MS
excellent customer support and very helpful, patient and professional technical support, thank you Cad-Ray team - 7/09/2026
Tom Bartley
What a fantastic supplier. They stock very hard to find parts and their customer service is superb. So willing to help me in a tough spot. They really hustle to make things awesome. Matt in particular is simply a great guy and a fantastic business pa...read moreWhat a fantastic supplier. They stock very hard to find parts and their customer service is superb. So willing to help me in a tough spot. They really hustle to make things awesome. Matt in particular is simply a great guy and a fantastic business partner.read less - 6/24/2026
Jeffrey Urban
Everyone at CAD-RAY has been awesome to work with. I purchased the Shining 3D ELF. Heather set me up and did training. She was great!! - 6/23/2026
karneet sethi
Destaney Lathero from Cad ray is very helpful and always have a great experience working with her. Highly recommended!! - 5/28/2026
michael nugent
Destaney Lathero was an amazing Shinning Elf trainer. - 5/21/2026
Jorge Gonzalez
The best technical experience ever!!! Technical support calls can be somehow annoyingly, lengthy and frustrating. I recently experienced an issue with my IO and thankfully Erica from Cad-ray took my call. She was so nice and polite, but also obsessiv...read moreThe best technical experience ever!!! Technical support calls can be somehow annoyingly, lengthy and frustrating. I recently experienced an issue with my IO and thankfully Erica from Cad-ray took my call. She was so nice and polite, but also obsessive with her work, she went back and forth logging into my laptop tweaking every possible settings, she made several calls until she fund satisfactory results.I have dealing with CadRay for about 8 years, I have bought most of my technology acquisitions for my practice. I 💯 recommend itread less - 5/20/2026
LORAN ONG
Giovanni Cortes and Kaila Larson were super helpful setting me up with my intraoral scanner. Would 100% recommend CAD-Ray. - 5/14/2026
Enoch Kim
Gio and Heather at CadRay support are amazing!!! Professional, efficient and kind! - 5/14/2026
LoAn Huynh
Erika is one of a kind! She truly is patient with me. She has gone above and beyond to help me every time I call her. We have a few locations and she is always prompt in her responses and always manages to find a solution for me. I wish every rep was...read moreErika is one of a kind! She truly is patient with me. She has gone above and beyond to help me every time I call her. We have a few locations and she is always prompt in her responses and always manages to find a solution for me. I wish every rep was reachable ALL THE TIME and helpful! Thank you Erika! ❤️read less - 6/04/2025
Delicate Dentistry
Cad-Ray's support is truly exceptional. While the equipment represents a significant investment, the peace of mind that comes from knowing they stand firmly behind their products is invaluable. Their support team is efficient, professional, and remar...read moreCad-Ray's support is truly exceptional. While the equipment represents a significant investment, the peace of mind that comes from knowing they stand firmly behind their products is invaluable. Their support team is efficient, professional, and remarkably persistent in ensuring everything runs smoothly. I'm especially grateful to Destaney and Laura for their ongoing assistance- their dedication and expertise have made a world of a difference!read less - 5/15/2025
Penelope Lee
Frank and his team have always been ready and able to help us with any issue we’ve come across in the last 2 years since we purchased our mill and equipment from them. Today, Griffen went above and beyond to find a solution to our software issue. I w...read moreFrank and his team have always been ready and able to help us with any issue we’ve come across in the last 2 years since we purchased our mill and equipment from them. Today, Griffen went above and beyond to find a solution to our software issue. I was able to finish a project on time for a patient in pain because of his dedication. “We’ve never had a more helpful team for any of our equipment” was a quote from our head Doctor today. Excellent job Griffen and team!read less - 5/14/2025
Dr. Steven E. Hollister
Had a training session for use of my Medit scanner this afternoon, and Heather G. was simply the best.....knowledgeable, patient and a great trainer. She had a wealth of knowledge regarding my scanner and she was so very patient with my computer glit...read moreHad a training session for use of my Medit scanner this afternoon, and Heather G. was simply the best.....knowledgeable, patient and a great trainer. She had a wealth of knowledge regarding my scanner and she was so very patient with my computer glitches! CAD-Ray is number one in my book! Thanks Heather, your time was much appreciated! Dr. Steve Hollisterread less - 5/14/2025
Brenden Rogers
This company is excellent. Their knowledge, support, and sincerity is unmatched.Thank you, Frank, Damien, and Jonathan. You guys rock! - 5/08/2025
Andrea Sleep
Thank you guys so much. You guys have the absolute best customer service! - 5/05/2025
Susan Latimer
Cad Ray has always provided me with the best customer support for my Medit scanner. Today, I worked with Destiny. She is quick to respond and identify problems and also great at explaining how to fix them! I highly recommend this company! - 5/01/2025
lizette aguero
Highly recommended. Ericka help me through all the process when we were having some trouble with our scanner. The help was super fast and secure. She answered all our questions and made sure our scanner were working perfectly. - 4/29/2025
Victoria Rinando
Danielle was super helpful and kind trouble shooting to get us back up and going very quickly this morning. We appreciate it! - 4/15/2025
Ravi Sawhney
Fantastic folks. I'm an orthodontist and opened an office in 2020. They helped me find the perfect intraoral scanner to suit my needs. Not too much or too little, and a great price. Every time we have a technical question, a sharp human answers the p...read moreFantastic folks. I'm an orthodontist and opened an office in 2020. They helped me find the perfect intraoral scanner to suit my needs. Not too much or too little, and a great price. Every time we have a technical question, a sharp human answers the phone, troubleshoots, and remotes in when needed-- navigating MS updates and graphics card issues. My i500 died this week. They overnighted me a trade-in at a totally reasonable price, and even shipped me a laptop to drive the i600 while I got a new one (they knew my 2020 laptop wouldn't keep up!). CAD-Ray has consistently hit it out of the park.read less - 4/14/2025
Faisal Mir
Exceptional customer service! - 4/11/2025
A C
Kaila and Laura were amazing to work with. I would not hesitate to buy again from them. Super helpful/available and one of the best experiences I’ve had making such a big investment in equipment like I had to make for my practice. Way to go Cad Ray f...read moreKaila and Laura were amazing to work with. I would not hesitate to buy again from them. Super helpful/available and one of the best experiences I’ve had making such a big investment in equipment like I had to make for my practice. Way to go Cad Ray for running a solid business!read less - 11/15/2024
Laura
Very helpful and attentive when setting up my new Medit scanner. Seamless process from start to finish - 10/28/2024
All Clear
Great experience with CAD-Ray, specifically Damien, with purchasing and customer service with servicing a scanner that needed replacing under warranty. All around excellent service and I will definitely come back for future technology we'll eventuall...read moreGreat experience with CAD-Ray, specifically Damien, with purchasing and customer service with servicing a scanner that needed replacing under warranty. All around excellent service and I will definitely come back for future technology we'll eventually be adding to our practice.read less - 10/23/2024
Chris Kleist
Cad-Ray is the absolute best if you're in the market for digital dental tools. I have purchased two Medit scanners through them. There will be hiccups with any complex piece of machinery, but every time I have needed Cad-Ray, they have been there. I ...read moreCad-Ray is the absolute best if you're in the market for digital dental tools. I have purchased two Medit scanners through them. There will be hiccups with any complex piece of machinery, but every time I have needed Cad-Ray, they have been there. I recently had a scanner go down. I called Cad-Ray tech support and they got me on the phone with Medit immediately. Within a day, a replacement scanner was sitting on my desk. It doesn't get much better than that.read less - 10/03/2024
Jordan Bower
Frank helped me out when 3dbiocad could not help me with my trios issue. Thank you cad-ray. - 9/15/2024
Matt v
Matt Newman was excellent solving a cable problem.! Quick response and good follow up! - 9/11/2024
Kip Covington
Customer support! I've had handfuls of scanners over the years and support has always been the biggest variable. We recently had a scanner bought through and implant company and received limited to no support. Through recommendations from several fri...read moreCustomer support! I've had handfuls of scanners over the years and support has always been the biggest variable. We recently had a scanner bought through and implant company and received limited to no support. Through recommendations from several friends, I purchased a second scanner through cad-ray and had them transfer over our support for the first. I wish I would have done this years ago. Destaney, has been incredible helping us troubleshoot a hardware issue that came up. It was on 3-shapes side but not only did she run it up the ladder there and get us back up and running quickly, but she promptly answered all questions and continuously checked in to make sure things were moving along. I won't purchase from anyone else going forward.read less - 8/14/2024
Thanh Huynh
I am beyond impressed with Destaney and Cad-Ray! Despite accidentally throwing away my old scanner, which I was supposed to return, their team went above and beyond to advocate for me. Their exceptional support and understanding turned a stressful si...read moreI am beyond impressed with Destaney and Cad-Ray! Despite accidentally throwing away my old scanner, which I was supposed to return, their team went above and beyond to advocate for me. Their exceptional support and understanding turned a stressful situation into a seamless experience. Highly recommend!read less - 8/02/2024
Northwest Orthodontics
Every staff member has been very helpful and kind every time we call. Thank you! - 7/24/2024
SCOTT MEUSELBACH
I bought a Medit i700 and admittedly did not use it for a year or so. Once I got going on it, I now hate analog impressions (time, lab time, expense, questions of quality, etc). I had a cord go bad (fray) and could not scan. I called and spoke to Hea...read moreI bought a Medit i700 and admittedly did not use it for a year or so. Once I got going on it, I now hate analog impressions (time, lab time, expense, questions of quality, etc). I had a cord go bad (fray) and could not scan. I called and spoke to Heather, and she was outstanding in providing service. I texted a pic, she corresponded with Medit, and they got a new one to me the next day. Tracking, email correspondence, etc. all was provided there as well. I was back up and running in no time, and having to do some analog impressions made me realize how much we love the scanner. The service from Heather and Medit (Dane) verified it. I sent a text out to a pile of dental friends to let them know as well. Highly recommended!read less - 7/10/2024
John Eum
Love all the staff there. Great support and instruction from Armen, Laura, Damien. We are very grateful for Kaila who has been incredible in getting us going - very friendly, professional and responsive. Thank you! - 7/03/2024
Jansen Bean
Heather with CADRay provided wonderful assistance with setting up our new scanner, and was able to work around a minor scheduling issue on my part. Top notch service! - 6/28/2024
Andy M
It has been great to work with Laura and Heather. The purchase, financing, shipping, and training process has been smooth. The training was very comprehensive and not rushed at all. I love my Medit i-600 scanner, and I recommend CAD-RAY 100%! - 5/22/2024
Ma. Teresa Santana
Best support and customer service ever! My scanner is long past warranty and they still answer all my questions. When it's time to upgrade I'll be buying from them again. A friend bought same scanner from another vendor and got zero support. I had to...read moreBest support and customer service ever! My scanner is long past warranty and they still answer all my questions. When it's time to upgrade I'll be buying from them again. A friend bought same scanner from another vendor and got zero support. I had to help them. Told her next time buy from Cad Rayread less - 5/10/2024
Brandon Jones
Cad-Ray customer service is great! Super responsive and efficient. - 3/26/2024
Greg Stepka
Highly Recommend working with Cad-Ray. Just purchased a MeditI700. So easy to work with. Training with Destaney was awesome. - 3/19/2024
Aaron LaRock
Dentist here. Bought a scanner, mill and 3d printer with Cad-Ray. I don't know what I'd do if I bought these items without their support. They've helped me so much and are awesome. I felt I had to repay by writing them this nice review. You won't reg...read moreDentist here. Bought a scanner, mill and 3d printer with Cad-Ray. I don't know what I'd do if I bought these items without their support. They've helped me so much and are awesome. I felt I had to repay by writing them this nice review. You won't regret getting whatever you need through Cad Ray.read less - 3/15/2024
Tiffany Lee
Update to CAD-Ray as this company has morphed into something even better and grander than it was previously. This is the company where you go to when you need a scanner or 3d printer. Their customer service is second to none and their training on sca...read moreUpdate to CAD-Ray as this company has morphed into something even better and grander than it was previously. This is the company where you go to when you need a scanner or 3d printer. Their customer service is second to none and their training on scanners is top level. Don't buy your scanners anywhere else because Cad-Ray is the only company who knows how to solve any of your problems and provides the best technical support. I recently had purchased a software to mill crowns from my medit to my MCXL. No body could get it to work.12 months in and I was resigned to it not working and not being able to mill in house. With Cad-Ray's tremendous hard work, we were able to get the milling unit synchronized to the inlab and inlab synchronized to clinux and clinux meshed to medit. I am now milling scanned crowns for the first time in about 12 months. Yay Cad-Ray, Thank you!!!!!read less - 3/06/2024
Roy Elturk
Outstanding customer service! Laura helped me purchase my first Trios scanner and she took the time to go over all the specs, models, and details with me. Their on going tech support is what sets this company a part from others. - 3/05/2024
Please, take a seat, you should not be standing while you watch this.
Artificial intelligence by Medit i500 now identifies the location of your scanbody but it also automatically launches all that proper information into CAD software for instant abutment designs. Make sure to watch both videos. Enjoy.
A custom titanium metal abutment is milled in such a manner where the drills DO NOT touch the connection. The type of connection is predetermined by the blank manufacturer and the cylindrical part of the abutment is milled out. This makes the symmetric geometry of the abutment a bit tricky for some to handle as indexing it properly to manage the timing of the connection is critical for easy delivery.
It is a good idea to know the exact dimension of the screw access hole. You want to set the diameter just outside the channel so that you don’t have to do a lot of post production adjustments. if it is made too thin however, you can have a mis-mill and have to repeat it. We’ve found 2.5 mm the perfect setting for the DESS titanium abutments.
With the Meditlink software you can design a case and then export the designs and take them to any milling machine of your choice. In this demonstration, we use the CORiTEC ONE to mill out the metal abutment in 45 minutes. This procedure is not intended to be a single appointment visit so timing is not critical and you don’t place undue wear and tear on the milling machine.
The crowns were milled with two different milling machines. A Celtra Duo block was used and milled with the CEREC MCXL and retrofitted to the abutment to verify the fit and accuracy. The same crown stl was milled out of Vita material in the imes icore machine. The whole point of the demonstration is that you can take scans from any intra-oral scan, take it to CAD software (in this case exocad) and then export the case and take it to any printer or milling machine of your choice. You must make sure critical information is accurately transferred from your CAD software to your CAM software, which is generally the construction / project file that accompanies the STL files of the prosthetic components
The same crown was milled out of Vita’s Suprinity material in 20 minutes with the imes-icore CORiTEC ONE. Take note of the internal adaptation of the metal abutment and the restoration and how when it is flipped upside down, the restoration does not fall out easily!
When we 3D scan the surface of an object, we plot geometric figures (usually triangles) on the surface of that object which is usually round or has some other geometric shape. A satellite beam hitting the surface of the earth is a good way to visualize the scanning process as the photo illustrates.
As you span across long distances, a meshwork of triangles are plotted together to accurately represent the topography of the object. You can start “veering off track” and forming models that are inaccurate representations of that object if you don’t properly form this framework. There are many variables that can introduce these errors including simple matters like speed of scanning.
Now, with this dental artificial intelligence program, the software can digitally plot and drop known shapes on top of attachments or devices we place in the mouth. Color mapping can let us know if we are staying accurate, on path, or introducing errors and deviations!
Now imagine if you have 6 objects sticking out of a flat plane that this AI program readily recognizes. Identifying these landmarks is the first step, but the bigger significance is that we can scan from object 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 6, and when we continuously to image backwards from object 6 to object 1, and our color coding remains the same, we are guaranteed scan accuracy.
People go to 2 extra years of schooling to do accurate work in complex cases, most of which will be replaced with software algorithms like this. This is a serious and significant advancement in dentistry, particularly in implant dentistry. Here’s a video that detail how we use it to restore dental implants.
In the following three videos we walk you through the steps of how the digital “scanbody drop” works to identify the location of an implant fixture. In the demonstration videos, we highlight this upcoming feature and how you an integrate the CAD software for implant designs and restorations. In the final video, we demonstrate how you can take the construction files to the milling machine of your choice and mill out the abutment and/or suprastructure.
The Medit i500 intra-oral scanner has two different software programs to operate, one is of which is geared towards clinical dentistry and the other is geared towards laboratories. Our advanced users are encouraged to use the lab version as it has a lot more functionality. One of them is to directly link to exocad software.
In this particular preview we show you the interface where you can launch the iScan program and define the work order and set all the parameters for your restorations.
Once all the settings are chosen, you launch the Medit scanner and image the case. Here, we defined the custom abutment for the crown and the opposing, which activated the catalog box for the antagonist, the arch, the scanbody, and the buccal bite. All respective images were captured.
Once the implant type is identified then you can design the abutment and crown with great control, where you can contour the underbelly of the abutment to help provide tissue support.
The design and the construction file is taken to the milling machine. Here, we used the CORiTEC ONE to mill the titanium abutment and then the Lithium Disilicate crown. You can see the great internal adaptation when the crown and the abutment are flipped around completely and the abutment does not fall out.
In this case presentation, we scan a patient with the medit i500 for implant planning and restorations in the upper left quadrant. At first, you will notice how the camera was slow to capture the arch due to water spots on the mirror of the camera tip. Once these water spots were removed, the imaging was rapid and the whole upper arch was imaged in just a minute.
Once the upper arch was digitize it was automatically merged with the dicom data from a ct scan in the blueskybio software. This automated step saves quite a lot of time and is rapidly becoming a reliable solution. It is imperative that you do NOT form a base or close holes in your intra-oral scans so that the software has an easier time to stitch the models together.
The implant case was designed and a surgical stent was fabricated for fully guided surgery. The lip line and the tooth position will be a challenge and the angulation will have to be corrected with an angled abutment
The Medit i500 software can now identify a scanbody and digitally place a virtual one in its location. This has a lot of ramifications. For starters, this great opportunity affords a dentist the ability to image multiple implants in long span edentulous areas, where you would have a clear indication of distortion or artifact introduced during challenging scans.
In this single unit case in the video below, we preview this feature. Once the patient is anesthetized, the isolite was placed to protect the airway and the edentulous area was scanned.
After uncovery of the fixture, the type of scanbody was identified in the menu and the location of the scanbody was identified on the digital model.
Once scanning was resumed, the digital scanbody was placed on top of the intra-oral one. As more data was captured you can appreciate how steadily the software tries to adapt the physical fixture to the digital one.
The Z4 Milling Machine can drill emax, zirconia and metal abutments. You can use a scanbody, identify the location of the fixture, design the abutment and mill our either ceramic or metal as the abutment.
Metal abutments in the posterior molar areas, tibases in canine and premolar regions, and angled abutments in incisor area is the general consensus for restoration of choice
One of the greatest advantages of the Z4 is that it can start milling while it is doing the calculation for milling. Furthermore, you can load multiple designs in preparation of continuous milling. In the picture attached, the CAM software is shown which operates in the background. Most users don’t usually see this interface.
Here you can see how there are 5 drills for the machine. The top tier, consisting of 3 drills, labeled G240, G100, and G060 are all labeled as R. The G120-T and G060-T are used only for a screw access holes
When planning for guided surgery in edentulous patients, it is important to have the final vertical dimension and tooth position determined. Ideally, a denture duplicate should be used with proper radiographic markers.
The traditional way was to embed radio-opaque material in the denture dupe, CT scan the patient with the denture dupes, and then CT scan the denture dupes themselves. Alternatively, you can scan the denture duplicates with a digital impression system. Here we used flowable composite and spread them through the wax set up and take a 3D X-ray of the patient. We then use those landmarks to merge the data sets between the digitize denture and the markers on the CT Scan
Once the dentures are digitized and merged with the CT data, the cases is analyzed to make sure there are no gaps in between the intaglio of the denture and the soft tissue of the palate and the lower / mandibular ridge
An important concept to keep in mind for these edentulous cases is that you actually need 2 models for each arch. One model is used for tooth positioning and implant design, and the other model is used for stent design. Essentially, you design the stent on the ridge, not the denture dupe
One of the biggest hassles in most software is to plan a guided surgery case when the tooth is still present in the arch. Some software will force you to part-take in pylon course handling, gymnastics maneuvers, musical chairs, and multiple imports and exports. The issue revolves around the placement of the sleeve / ring in the design step. Usually you are forced to manipulate the data in 3rd party software and then bring it back with the tooth virtually extracted.
This article is about how you can scan the arches and export the STL, OBJ, or PLY data from the Medit i500 scanner. You can then clone the same case and alter it- namely, you can crop out the tooth that will be extracted in the future. This video shows you how the virtual extraction is performed.
The multiple data sets are then imported in BlueSkyBio software where there are no limits to the number of models you can bring in. In the following video, you can see how the complete upper arch, the virtually extracted lateral arch model, and the opposing are brought in an merged with the CT Data.
The implant is planned for fully guided procedure and a surgical stent is manufactured on the model that has the virtual extraction. You cannot design a stent correctly with the tooth present in the equation. Open architecture and speedy results are the name of the game now with CAD/CAM dentistry. As you can see, these steps are super fast and easy with the open licensed Medit Scanner
Another example of how well the i500 from Medit can scan with a deep focal length. This is impossible to do with any other IOS system on the market. Don’t misunderstand, this is not an easy impression to capture, but if you are well trained and know what you are doing, it’s very accurate and simple.
In this video you will see how the upper arch is captured in under a minute. Then the lower arch is capture with the healing abutment removed. Watch carefully how there is a lot of effort made to capture the distal wall / contact area of the bicuspid. You can also see the effort made to capture information below the height of contour of the distal molar. The mesial information is critical for designing the emergence profile of the abutment and restoration
[videopress 2Di5fUxy permalink=”false” hd=”true”]
After both arches are captured, the software leads you to the step where you capture the peek impression post. It is seated completely and an X-ray was taken to verify the accuracy. The edentulous area where the abutment would be positioned is cropped on the Meditlink software, and the impression post is scanned. It is imperative to make sure the adjacent teeth are imaged so the software can properly line up the landmark of this scan with the previous scan of the edentulous mandible.
After the Peek Scan Body for a Narrow Platform is imaged, it is removed, and the patient bites down into maximum intercuspation. The camera then captures the data so that it can articulated the models together. The buccal bite scan turns green once a positive adaptation is made.
[videopress LF2bvJPR permalink=”false” hd=”true”]
Once the relationship of the upper arch and the lower arch are confirmed, the case can be submitted to a lab for the manufacturing of a custom abutment. You also have the choice of fabricating chairside abutments with a milling machine, if you choose to.
When you scan an upper arch and a lower arch with an intra-oral scanner and then export that case, usually the software places coordinates on the upper and lower models, so when you import them into another software, they properly articulate.
In this video, you can see how the upper arch is stitched to the CT image of the maxilla, an then how one can easily related the mandible stl file to articulate to the upper arch. This comes in handy in software like BlueSkyBio where you could add teeth to the equation and design implants so that they are prosthetically driven during the design phase.
In this video, you can see how a quadrant of the lower arch and the upper arch can be imported into a third party software for design. Note that in this particular demonstration, there is not edentulous area and this video just demonstrates how you can place a digital tooth in your case and design the digital wax up to your liking. Advanced users generally just use the sleeve of the surgical stent to aid them in visualizing the occlusal table of the final prosthesis. A complete design lets you know where the contacts are and how much space you need to create the proper emergence profile.