title: Understanding dental CAD/CAM for restorations - dental milling machines from a mechanical engineering viewpoint. Part A: chairside milling machines.
abstract: The dental milling machine is an important device in the dental CAD/CAM chain. Nowadays, dental numerical controlled (NC) milling machines are available for dental surgeries (chairside solution). This article provides a mechanical engineering approach to NC milling machines to help dentists understand the involvement of technology in digital dentistry practice. First, some technical concepts and definitions associated with NC milling machines are described from a mechanical engineering viewpoint. The technical and economic criteria of four chairside dental NC milling machines that are available on the market are then described. The technical criteria are focused on the capacities of the embedded technologies of these milling machines to mill both prosthetic materials and types of shape restorations. The economic criteria are focused on investment costs and interoperability with third-party software. The clinical relevance of the technology is assessed in terms of the accuracy and integrity of the restoration.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lebon
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tapie
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Duret
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Attal
mesh_terms: D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry; D003188:Composite Resins / Q000737:chemistry; D017076:Computer-Aided Design / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design / Q000295:instrumentation; D004526:Efficiency; D004738:Engineering; D004867:Equipment Design; D004869:Equipment Safety; D006801:Humans; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013674:Technology, Dental / Q000295:instrumentation; D057188:Workflow
chemical_list: D003188:Composite Resins; D003764:Dental Materials; C023506:Glass ceramics