title: Understanding dental CAD/CAM for restorations--accuracy from a mechanical engineering viewpoint.
abstract: As is the case in the field of medicine, as well as in most areas of daily life, digital technology is increasingly being introduced into dental practice. Computer-aided design/ computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) solutions are available not only for chairside practice but also for creating inlays, crowns, fixed partial dentures (FPDs), implant abutments, and other dental prostheses. CAD/CAM dental practice can be considered as the handling of devices and software processing for the almost automatic design and creation of dental restorations. However, dentists who want to use dental CAD/CAM systems often do not have enough information to understand the variations offered by such technology practice. Knowledge of the random and systematic errors in accuracy with CAD/CAM systems can help to achieve successful restorations with this technology, and help with the purchasing of a CAD/CAM system that meets the clinical needs of restoration. This article provides a mechanical engineering viewpoint of the accuracy of CAD/ CAM systems, to help dentists understand the impact of this technology on restoration accuracy.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tapie
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lebon
authors.forename: Bernardin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mawussi
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fron-Chabouis
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Duret
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Attal
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017266:Dental Prosthesis / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004738:Engineering / Q000592:standards; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013499:Surface Properties; D013674:Technology, Dental / Q000592:standards; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D057188:Workflow