Dental News – CEREC Biogeneric: now for crowns, veneers and anatomical bridges

In 2007, CEREC Biogeneric, Sirona’s new biogenic software tool for inlays and inlays, marked an important milestone in occlusal surface design. For the first time, a mathematical extrapolation model from natural tooth morphologies was developed in order to create patient-specific occlusal surfaces based on residual tooth tissue. This greatly simplified the design of functional occlusal surfaces.

The new software version, 3.80, now available, takes biogenetic modeling one step further. It is now possible to design biogenic occlusal surfaces for crowns, bridges and veneers. This is the result of pioneering research by Profs. Mehl and Blanz, who were able to determine the genetic pattern of morphology and occlusion and transfer their findings to an algorithmic tooth model.

In other words, the calculation of occlusal surfaces is no longer based on residual tooth tissue. Instead, it is based on the occlusal and lateral surfaces of a morphologically and functionally intact reference tooth in the patient’s mouth — for example, the adjacent, contralateral, or competitor tooth. The software automatically analyzes the characteristics of the reference tooth compared to those of an “average” tooth of the same type.

The result is a patient-specific tooth morphology and occlusal surface design that perfectly matches the patient’s other teeth in appearance and function. This eliminates the need for a tooth database containing standardized morphologies, which in many cases requires individual fitting and milling.

More information is available from SIRONA – The Dental Company.