Does digital technology lead to better dentistry?

摘要

The International Dental Show (IDS) opened its doors in Cologne, Germany, in March 2017. A total of 2,305 exhibitors from 59 countries presented the latest products and developments in the dental sector. More than 155,000 people from all over the world visited the IDS. The visitors were presented with a bigger range and variety of products than ever before, spread out across 163,000 square meters of floor space. It is a must for dentists and dental technicians to visit the IDS at least biennially because the most recent and interesting innovations in the dental field in general, and in the areas of digital dentistry and materials in particular, are presented at this event each year. The manufacturers presented very promising new additions to their product lines, especially in the area of CAD/ CAM chairside dentistry. A variety of different CAD/CAM systems are now available for the dental laboratory. For many years, Cerec was the only CAD/CAM system that allowed dentists to make chairside restorations of esthetic ceramics in a single visit. Nine different CAD/CAM chairside systems have already been or will soon be placed on the market since the IDS 2017. With the market overflowing with these innovations, it is important for users to ask questions like: How do these systems perform in clinical practice? How accurate are they? We (practicing dentists and researchers in the academic and industrial sectors) must first determine the answers to these questions. A first step is made in this issue of the International Journal of Computerized Dentistry, which is dedicated to the topic of accuracy.