CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
12 February 2013
Events News
Delcam to Show Latest in Dental CADCAM at Dentistry Show
Delcam will demonstrate the latest versions of its DentCAD and DentMILL CADCAM programs at the Dentistry Show to be held at the NEC, Birmingham, on 1st and 2nd March. Delcam is the only company able to offer a complete, open implantology solution, from accurately capturing the implant position and orientation, through to the high-precision, multi-axis milling of customised abutments, implant bridges and dental bars, with a management system to track every stage of the process.
Delcam remains committed to its drive to replace "closed” manufacturing methods, in which the user is restricted to the use of a limited range of equipment and materials, with "open” systems, in which manufacturers can combine their own choice of equipment and software, and then use a broad variety of materials. Thus, DentCAD can accept data from all leading dental scanning systems and output designs to any machining software, while DentMILL can take models from most dental design systems and generate toolpaths for a wide range of machine tools.
The major change in the new DentCAD 2013 release is the introduction of a higher-definition method for modelling. This gives much better representation of fine details such as cusps and fissures on the tooth, and so allows a closer match to the surrounding teeth to be modelled.
It has also enabled the creation of a much more extensive and more realistic library of standard tooth designs for DentCAD. Designs much closer to real teeth can be selected from the library that require far less editing to produce the final model.
The second major change has been the incorporation of best-fitting algorithms from Delcam’s PowerINSPECT metrology program, the world’s leading hardware-independent inspection software. These allow the positions of scan adaptors to be located to high levels of precision and so enable extremely accurate production of items multi-implant restorations, such as dental bars.
Another key area for development has been dental bar design. This has been improved to give more control over the shape of the various profile sections of the bar and to make it easier to incorporate full custom abutments within the bar.
The new DentMILL 2013 product integrates fully into the DentCAD workflow, including the introduction of a new interface that replicates the cleaner style introduced in the 2010 version of DentCAD. This features a reduced number of toolbars to allow the maximum screen space for toolpath generation and simulation, together with bolder and clearer icons. The new interface has been designed in association with dental laboratories and milling centres to ensure that technicians with limited experience of computer-aided machining will find the software easy to learn and to use.
Material use has been made more efficient with improved and more flexible nesting tools to position the various restorations within the block. In particular, the ability to undertake part-to-part pinning has been added, rather than needing to have separate sintering pins for each restoration. Background processing means that toolpath calculations can be started on the first items added to the block, while the remaining restorations are still being positioned. This approach can reduce the overall calculation times.
DentMILL 2013 has also benefited from enhancements to the latest version of Delcam’s PowerMILL CAM system for high-speed and five-axis machining on which it is based. These include a number of new strategies that offer smoother machining to give the best possible surface finish.
Closer integration has also been added with Delcam’s OrderManager workflow management software. This allows laboratory staff to immediately see incoming orders, approve them and download scan data to begin the design or to download design data for machining. The system can subsequently manage all manufacturing steps through to eventual dispatch, giving a ‘real-time’ view of total order status. Delcam’s OrderManager can be used with the full variety of manufacturing processes as it can easily be tailored to manage any laboratory’s individual process steps.
Each customer has access to view all their orders, from initial order acknowledgement through to eventual dispatch, to check their progress without needing to contact the laboratory, so saving time for both customer and supplier. They are notified automatically if any further information is required, and when the order has been dispatched so that they can then arrange an appointment with the patient.
The system has been designed to be extremely easy to use for staff at both the laboratory and the milling centre, thus minimising administration time whilst maximising feedback. All transactions are logged, providing complete traceability for every order.
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