STRAUMANN LAUNCHES NEW CAD/CAM PROSTHETIC SOLUTIONS AT IDS
- Straumann® CARES ® 8.0 software completes integration into the DWOS platform offering customers an open system with innovative features and functionalities
- Added efficiency, flexibility and convenience with new prosthetic products, materials and software functions
- Collaborations with 3M ESPE and Innovation MediTech complete digital workflow
- Continual improvements in implant dentistry
Cologne/Basel - At Europe’s leading dental trade fair, the International Dental Show (IDS) in Cologne, Germany, Straumann is presenting a number of new products and solutions designed to leverage efficiency, open new treatment possibilities and enhance patient care in implant and restorative dentistry.
ADVANCED RESTORATIVE SOLUTIONS
The main advances at Straumann in recent months have come in the restorative field and the most significant is the launch of Straumann CARES Visual 8.0 software in Europe and North America.
With the new software, Straumann has completed the integration of its CADCAM system into the Dental Wings Open Software (DWOS) platform, offering customers an open system with innovative features and functionalities. Users now have several data input possibilities and the option of producing prosthetics through the CARES validated workflow (covered by the Straumann Guarantee) or through an alternative milling process.
CARES 8.0 optimizes digital workflows, increases design flexibility, improves ease of use, and extends Straumann’s prosthetic portfolio for implant- and tooth-borne restorations. It is free of charge for Straumann CARES customers running up-to-date software licenses and is available for purchase to new customers.
Dr Sandro Matter, Executive Vice President of Straumann’s Prosthetics Business Unit, noted: “The standardization of dental software and the development of a common platform offer significant benefits. CARES 8.0 includes efficiency-driven functionalities such as simultaneous scan and design, mirror anatomy, intuitive design of screw-retained bars, and additional time-saving solutions. It also supports the proven concept of original prosthetics on original implants. Dental labs can use these latest features to work faster and more efficiently, giving them a competitive advantage in a challenging marketplace”.
One-step single-tooth implant prosthetic solution: CARES X-Stream™
Digital technologies have enabled Straumann to streamline the prosthetic workflow further. The new CARES X-Stream functionality with CARES 8.0 enables customers to design custom abutments and the corresponding full-contour crown or coping simultaneously from one scan. Until now, two scanning and design steps were required – one for the abutment and subsequently one for the crown. The abutments and crowns are produced in a controlled milling environment for excellent fit and consistent quality. They are then delivered together, significantly reducing turnaround time and shipment costs.
New hybrid abutment
To complement its existing range of customized abutments in titanium and zirconium dioxide, Straumann is introducing the CARES Variobase™ Abutment, a hybrid with a titanium bonding base and a zirconium dioxide coping. This offers laboratories the combined benefit of a metal-to-metal implant abutment with an original Straumann connection and a variety of esthetic shades.
Screw-retained bridges and bars available through CARES
Straumann now offers screw-retained bridges and bars for its bone level implants and four additional bar designs. Laboratories can now order CADCAM screw-retained bars and bridges for tissue level, bone level, or mixed platforms, for restorations up to 16 units in certain cases.
Full-contour zerion® HT (High Translucency)
The company has complemented its impressive selection of prosthetic materials with zerion HT, a translucent zirconium dioxide ceramic for efficient full-contour crown and bridge restorations. Available in four shades, it requires minimal processing, saving lab time and reducing the risk of chipping.
CARES Scan & Shape
Straumann CARES Scan & Shape is a new service for the very large number of laboratories who wish to order original Straumann CARES custom abutments but do not have the requisite scanning capabilities. Through CARES Scan & Shape, they now have the possibility of sending a model or wax-up to Straumann, where the scanning and design work is carried out according to their specifications. The prosthetic component is then manufactured and delivered. In addition to quality, precision and convenience, customers benefit from original Straumann parts and the company’s guarantee – without having to invest in scanning equipment or software.
Collaborations with 3M ESPE and Innovation MediTech complete digital workflow
Straumann announced a new collaboration with Innovation MediTech GmbH (a Dreve Company) concerning the production of resin models needed for finishing implant- and tooth-borne CADCAM restorations in the dental laboratory.
State-of-the art intraoral scanning solutions now make it possible to complete the implant restoration workflow completely digitally – from impression, through design to manufacturing. However, to finish the final prosthetic, the laboratory still needs a physical working model, which can now be ordered from Innovation MediTech or third parties. Thanks to the new collaboration, the intra-oral scan data will be transmitted via the Straumann CARES system directly to Innovation MediTech. The latter uses LED scanning technology in a generative manufacturing process to produce a high precision resin model, which is forwarded on to the lab.
Importantly the model has a precisely positioned socket to receive a Straumann repositionable implant analog. This is essential for holding the prosthetic piece precisely and securely in the model for finishing by the lab technician.
Thanks to a ‘Trusted Connection’ developed by 3M ESPE and Straumann (also announced at the IDS), dentists using the new 3M™ True Definition Scanner will be able to send the scan data directly to dental labs using the Straumann CARES 8.0 system. The labs use the scan data to design and order Straumann prosthetics for implant- or tooth borne restorations. Using the Dental Wings Virtual Model Builder software the labs can design and order the corresponding high precision resin model from Innovation MediTech. The new model service will become available in the United States later in 2013 and in other markets concomitant with the introduction of the 3M™ True Definition Scanner.
CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENTS IN IMPLANT DENTISTRY
While the biggest advances have come in the restorative field, Straumann has continued to enhance its surgical offering with multiple improvements. One ‘eye-catcher’ at the IDS is Straumann’s NNC implant, which was launched fully in 2012 and has received a RedDot design award. It was also instrumental in Straumann’s nomination as one of Switzerland’s most innovative companies.1
NNC combines Straumann’s high strength material, Roxolid®, and SLActive® surface technology to make a high-performance small-diameter tissue-level implant with excellent osseointegration properties for narrow spaces. It also features Straumann’s new transfer instrument for easier, precise handling.
NNC is the forerunner of a new generation of smaller implants that Straumann is developing to preserve vital structures and to minimize the need for bone augmentation procedures.
Other novelties presented at the IDS include the TiBrush™, a small but meaningful product that simplifies debridement of implant surfaces affected by peri-implantitis, new sterile packaging for implant healing components, and a tool to assist practitioners in selecting the right products and combinations. Called the Straumann Indication Based Product Selection Guide, this web-based tool clarifies the specific benefits of Straumann's various implant and prosthetic solutions.
1University of St. Gallen ranking of Switzerland‘s leading innovation companies. Straumann ranked in top three in MedTech sector since 2009.