A virtual patient concept for esthetic and functional rehabilitation in a fully digital workflow

A combination of facial and intraoral scans produces a fully digitalized virtual patient. This concept allows for a 3D smile design and individualized virtual articulator application, which makes the rehabilitation outcome more predictable in terms of esthetics and function.

In the present clinical case, the patient was 'digitalized' with the use of facial and intraoral scans. The full-mouth rehabilitation by means of implant- and tooth-supported single ceramic restorations was performed through both digital and analog workflows. The 3D printing of the restoration patterns was achieved through the rapid prototyping (RP) approach, and the ceramic milling through the rapid manufacturing approach. The clinical and technical performance of both additive and subtractive manufacturing methods were assessed for this type of rehabilitation.

Both additive and subtractive manufacturing of ceramic restorations yielded a clinically acceptable marginal fit, which was inspected on the conventionally fabricated stone cast. As the milling of small ceramic restorations has met with failure in the past, the 3D printing of restoration patterns in the context of an RP approach may be regarded as a viable technical option.