CAD/CAM SBU – leading with innovation
This marks the first in a series of in-depth articles profiling individual Strategic Business Units (SBUs) in alphabetical order. The series kicks off with a look at the CAD/CAM SBU.
CEREC Family
The product family for the chairside production of CEREC Zirconia in the practice: CEREC AC with Omnicam, CEREC milling and grinding unit as well as the new CEREC SpeedFire sintering furnace.
The CAD/CAM SBU has a history of shaping the dental industry, having brought the very first CAD/CAM system to the market over 30 years ago. Today it is a leader in innovative solutions for both the dental practice and lab. Led by Group Vice President Frank Thiel, the unit currently has 268 employees with its main location in Bensheim, Germany. The unit’s main markets include the USA, Japan and Germany followed by China, Australia, France and Brazil.
The SBU is well known as a global leader for CEREC and inLab products. CEREC enables dentists to utilize CAD/CAM technology to model restorations without taking conventional physical impressions and single visit dentistry, while inLab provides dental laboratories with scanning and production units matched with specially developed software.
Over thirty million tooth restorations have been produced with CEREC globally. One restoration involved a surprising patient. When a 12-year-old African lioness named Naomi needed a damaged tooth restored, the veterinary team at the zoo in Ebeltoft, Denmark faced a daunting challenge as adult lions cannot be anesthetized for more than two to three hours. The team chose to utilize CEREC which enabled the treatment to be completed in a single session.
Award winning design
A number of products from the CAD/CAM SBU have received coveted design awards. As examples: The CEREC Omnicam won the iF DESIGN AWARD in 2012 and a red dot award for product design in 2013. The inEos X5 laboratory scanner won a red dot award in 2014 and won the German Design Award 2016 while the CEREC Speedfire sintering furnace received a red dot award in 2016 and an iF DESIGN AWARD in 2017.
inLab Family
The inLab product family: scanner inEos X5, inLab CAD software, milling and grinding units inLab MC X5
Collaborating for future success
The merger provided opportunities for collaboration across SBUs and is already leading to successful common projects. One such example is the Implants World Summit Tour 2017 taking place in Nice, France. In the exhibition area on site the SBUs Implants, Imaging and CAD/CAM will showcase the digital workflow and highlight the benefits of the merger for dental professionals. The Prosthetics, Implants and CAD/CAM SBUs are working on a common concept for the Dental Technician Congress 2018 and thereby demonstrate that Dentsply Sirona is the best partner for labs and offers solutions for nearly every need.
Sales demonstrations now truly show how the Company offers complete solutions for nearly every need. Further integration and collaboration are creating an exciting environment for this SBU.
In the past, I often did these types of live demos together with another material provider. Now that we have expanded our portfolio to include the CEREC Speedfire oven and have our own material specialists, we can utilize our own materials in the demonstrations
inLab Family
...and inLab MC XL, and sintering furnace inFire HTC speed.
Focus on SBUs
German Design Awards
The inEos X5 laboratory scanner won the German Design Award 2016 with a special mention for its excellent product design in the category “Medical”.
CEREC survey milestone
An online survey of dentists in Germany and the United States revealed that roughly two thirds of participants are already aware that full contour zirconium oxide can be processed with CEREC.
Best New Operatory Product: CEREC SpeedFire b
Adam Busch, Dentsply Sirona CEREC marketing product manager, accepted the Best New Operatory Product award for the CEREC SpeedFire sintering furnace at the Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting. The furnace sinters and glazes full zirconia restorations chairside for single-visit treatment.
iF Design Award 2017 for CEREC SpeedFire
The CEREC SpeedFire was a winner in this year’s iF Design Award, a world-renowned design prize, in the category “Product”. Each year, Germany’s oldest independent design organization, Hanover-based iF International Forum Design GmbH, organizes the iF Design Award.
More information about CEREC SpeedFire can be found in the “Design Excellence” section of the iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE.
Milestones in the Development of CEREC
... especially when this product is to become a generally recognized standard. In the past 30 years, CEREC has continuously developed. Today, thanks to its high clinical reliability and intuitive operation, it is an established CAD/CAM system. It is the only system on the market that facilitates final dental restorations in a single session, and gives users high added value for applications in implantology and orthodontics.
1980 Werner H. Mörmann, Professor of Dentistry and Marco Brandestini, Doctor of Technical Science started the development of CEREC at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. They patented their method.
1985 Supported by a software developer Dr. Alain Ferru (Zurich, Switzerland), they created the first CEREC prototype ("Lemon"). On September 19, they conducted their first treatment in the Dental Clinic of the University of Zurich with CEREC using VITABLOCS Mark I ceramic made by Vita Zahnfabrik.
1986 Upon conclusion of a licensing agreement, Siemens Dental, which would become Sirona 11 years later, started a serial production of CEREC.
1987 Official market launch of CEREC 1 serial units.
1988 At the International Dental Show (IDS), CEREC 1 celebrated its world unveiling.
1994 CEREC 2 market launch: the software enabled the production of inlays.
1996 International Society of Computerized Dentistry was founded. By that time, German Society of Computerized Dentistry (DGCZ) had already existed for five years.
1997 New CEREC 2 Software Module enabled the production of veneers.
1998 New CEREC 2 Software Module enabled the production of crowns in the posterior and later in the anterior area.
2000 Sirona presented CEREC 3 with separate scanning and milling units (on the summit of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain) 3M Espe became the company's third partner for materials, alongside Vita Zahnfabrik and Ivoclar Vivadent.
2001 The CEREC method found its way into dental laboratories in the form of the inLab system.
2002 Sirona announced the sale of the ten thousandth CEREC unit.
2003 The new CEREC 3D software allowed models and restorations to be assessed from all sides on the screen.
2005 New crown software (automatic calculation of the occlusal contact points of the crowns taken the antagonist into consideration).
2005 CEREC Chairline: Integration of CEREC in the M1+ and C2 treatment centers.
2006 CEREC Blocs: Feldspar ceramics for chairside restorations.
2007 CEREC MC XL milling machine was unveiled to the public.
2007 Biogeneric tooth model for inlays and partial crowns.
2008 A combination of a prosthetic proposal created with CEREC and cone beam data sent from GALILEOS 3D X-ray unit enabled a simultaneous clinical and esthetic planning of implants and the possibility to order surgical guides for a secure treatment.
2009 Sirona introduced CEREC AC imaging unit with a higher precision and blue imaging technology (CEREC Bluecam). Sirona Connect internet platform could be used to transmit digital impression data to a dental laboratory.
2010 The original tooth morphology (now also for crowns) is reconstructed on the basis of fully automated biogeneric software and individual patient characteristics.
2010 inCoris TZI market launch: first translucent zirconium dioxide became available to dentists.
2011 CEREC SW 4.0: New software generation with new user-friendly interface and innovative design allowed for the production of multiple restorations.
2011 CEREC Guide 1 (first CEREC surgical guide)
2012 CEREC Omnicam is optimized for powder-free scanning of natural tooth structures in one continuous color imaging process.
2012 CEREC SW 4.2 with chairside treatment of implants, virtual articulator, smile design, and translucent zirconium oxide
2013 New CEREC milling machines: CEREC MC XL Premium Package (as facelift), CEREC MC X, and CEREC MC
2013 CEREC Blocs C In: ceramic blocks with ceramic dentin core covered with a highly translucent enamel layer to treat anterior teeth
2014 CEREC SW 4.3: First time milling was used during chairside treatment.
2014 Introduction of inCoris TZI C: the first pre-colored translucent zirconium dioxide in VITA Classical Colors A1 to D3
2015 At its 30th anniversary celebration, Sirona introduced a flexible tabletop version (CEREC AF) and the integrated ergonomic version (CEREC AI) alongside the mobile cart version (CEREC AC).
2015 CEREC Guide 2: the fastest and most cost-effective surgical guide in the world. Can be fabricated directly in your clinic.
2015 CEREC meets Invisalign: Sirona and Align Technology agree to a partnership for ordering transparent Invisalign treatment appliances for the correction of malocclusions.
2015 CEREC Ortho SW 1.1: Digital impressions with the patented "guided scan" for orthodontics. Scanned data can be sent to laboratories to produce orthodontic appliances.
2015 CEREC SW 4.4 offers user friendly operation and supports even more precise machining of restorations thanks to the Biojaw algorithms with excellent initial proposals and improved grinding algorithms. Four-motor milling machine CEREC MC XL Premium Package was fitted with extra-fine grinding tools.
2015 Two further material suppliers were added: SHOFU and Coltène.
2016 CEREC Zirconia: full-contour zirconia for chairside fabrication of crowns and small bridges for a single visit treatment using:
- CEREC SW 4.4.1 or CEREC Premium SW 4.4.1 for the design of full-contour zirconia restorations
- Dry milling of CEREC MC, MC X and MC XL Premium Package milling and grinding units
- CEREC SpeedFire sintering furnace: fast sintering and fast glazing in an extremely compact, user-friendly device
- CEREC SpeedGlaze: speed-drying glaze spray for high-gloss restorations
