Digital dentistry, using high-end computer-aided design and manufacturing right in dentists offices, will take crown fabrication from the painful multi-visit ordeal it is now to a quick, 30 minute job. And according to the Dallas Morning News, the company that will bring this innovation to you isn’t modest about their beliefs:
Anyone who’s ever had a tooth reconstructed knows the routine. The problem tooth is drilled down, and a temporary covering is put on while a permanent crown is made. The patient returns in a few weeks to have the permanent crown put in.
For four years, D4D has been working feverishly to change that. With its now-patented technology, the tooth is digitized using a laser wand, and a virtual 3-D model is sent to a computerized milling machine that makes the crown, inlay, onlay or veneer in 30 minutes. The patient leaves with a new tooth.
Company founder and chief executive Basil Haymann says the system is undergoing user testing and clinical studies (including one just starting at Baylor College of Dentistry). It’s also in the final approval stage with the Food and Drug Administration.
“I had to be a little insane,” the 60-year-old says, “because I’ve put in tens of millions of dollars into a dream, which everyone told me was impossible.”
In fact, D4D stands for “dream, design, develop and deliver.”
Apparently, three medical giants think the company is about to make good on that final D.
Damn, we were sure at least one of the D’s stood for “dental” and maybe another was “digital”… but with a CEO that admits he’s “a little insane” then we’re not quite ready to throw out our Colgate and floss just yet.
More from D4D…
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