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Sales Reps or Scientists: Who Should We Believe?

Esguerra.Roxanna

Sales Reps or Scientists: Who Should We Believe?
Roxanna J. Esguerra, DDS, MS, FACP
University of Minnesota

The promise of digital dentistry has long been a “perfect” or error-free workflow from impression to definitive prosthesis. For implant prosthetics, dimensional accuracy of the working and final models remains the primary requirement for well-fitting final prostheses despite the transition away from conventional model-based workflows to digital-based design and manufacturing protocols. Furthermore, digital dentistry has gone through exponential growth in recent years, such that new products and workflows are available long before they can be evaluated by independent laboratory and clinical research. This presentation will include a case series of complete-arch implant-supported FDPs using a novel digital workflow (Nexus iOS from Osteon Medical & Keystone Dental) for fabrication of the definitive prosthesis. Various clinical situations and the effect on the definitive prosthesis will be discussed. In addition, conventional techniques for evaluation of prosthetic fit (e.g., Sheffield Test) will be presented and discussed. Clinical results will be compared with relevant in vivo research, with robust discussion on methodology used to assess 3-dimensional accuracy.

At the conclusion of this presentation, the attendee should be able to:

  • Describe Explain the fundamental ways to measure and compare 3-dimensional accuracy and list the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  • Describe digital workflow system design parameters that impact the overall accuracy of the final prostheses (e.g., duplicate scans and scan body designs).
  • Evaluate new products and workflows against foundational knowledge of 3-dimensional accuracy.

Biography: Dr. Roxanna J. Esguerra earned her dental degree at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine in 2008. She then earned a master’s in biomedical sciences and a Certificate certificate in Prosthodontics prosthodontics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. During the next five years, she served as a tenure- track assistant professor at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Dentistry. Upon returning to the U.S., she spent three years with Clear Choice Dental Implant Centers and now owns a referral based private practice in Duluth, MN and teaches part- time at the University of Minnesota.