Page 7 - The Apex - Touro College of Dental Medicine 2024

being trained to use modern
intraoral scanners. Faster
and more comfortable for
patients, these compact
(often wireless) digital
instruments yield detailed,
in-color, 3D impressions
that are used to design
and construct dentures or
bridges, inlays and onlays,
veneers, crowns, and more.
CAD/CAM
In addition to learning all
Powered by AI, the CAD
system quickly analyzes
a digital impression and
returns a design; CAM
then guides students in
transforming the design
into a dental device via
a mill or 3D printer,
depending on the type of
piece being constructed.
“On day one, students
are printing nightguards,
single-unit crowns, and
temporary crowns,” says
implant placement, and
at TCDM, students are
drawing on all the digital
tools at their fingertips
to create them—with
3D printers. The devices,
constructed from a 3D
treatment plan that
includes digital images and
impressions, and CAD/CAM
designs, replicate a patient’s
exact intraoral setting,
thereby assisting the
surgeon with laser-focused
Students are deep diving
into six categories of
AI-fueled digital dentistry—
positioning them as
tomorrow’s leaders in this
rapidly evolving field.
the ins and outs of creating
digital dental impressions,
TCDM students become
proficient in using them to
construct restorations and
prostheses via two pieces
of technologically advanced
computer software:
computer-aided design
(CAD) and computer-aided
manufacturing (CAM).
Abraham, noting that
milling comes into play
for permanent crowns, as
today’s “3D printers don’t
have the capacity to create
good ones yet.”
In either case and through
CAD/CAM training,
students are designing and
creating dental devices
on demand—faster, more
precisely, and cheaper than
manually doing so in the lab.
GUIDED IMPLANT
SURGERY
Many dental surgeons rely
heavily on surgical implant
guides to achieve optimal
precision when drilling
into the bone and placing
the implant. “Students
can envision the surgery
virtually and know it was a
success before the first cut is
ever made,” Abraham notes.
VIRTUAL TREATMENT
PLANNING
Augmented reality is a
revolutionary tool that
allows patients to see how
they would look following
corrective measures, like
braces or surgery, and
TCDM students are being
prepared to use it in the
real world. Often referred
to as “smile design,” it
requires proper use of a
digital camera to capture
the image of a patient’s
face; alternatively, patients
simply hold up an iPad
and snap a picture in selfie
mode. AI modeling software
overlays a smile onto the
patient’s mouth—even
suggesting smiles that best
suit the face—and displays
the potential new look in
every angle as the patient’s
head moves around.
“Students and patients
are seeing the results of
correction before treatment
begins,” says Abraham,
“which helps everyone
with the decision-making
process.”
DIGITAL DENTAL
RECORDS
Aside from alleviating
administrative tasks and
allowing practitioners to
focus less on paperwork
and more on patient
care, TCDM students are
instilled with an in-depth
understanding of how
electronic health records
also provide a vital snapshot
of a patient’s ongoing dental
health journey, and why that
results in enhanced care.
“Digitized records allow
us to easily and effectively
analyze how patients have
changed over time,” Dr.
Jurim explains. “With AI
tools built into the system,
we can look at how an area
of interest in a patient’s
mouth has been evolving,
for better or for worse.”
And as AI capabilities
continue to improve,
“health care providers will
be able to predict more to
prevent more,” which he
expects will revolutionize
dentistry—and the medical
field, as whole—from top to
bottom.
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