Dan Butterman As much as I like using my CEREC for implant restorations, the workflow for restoring a bridge is a little cumbersome. In order to restore a bridge from 19-21 using the chairside software, you need to scan the implants with Sirona scan posts, designate mutilayer single restorations for 19 and 21, split the restorations and mill just the abutment portion. You then need to either seat those abutments in the patient, pack cord, and scan them in as teeth in order to designate a traditional 3 unit bridge in the chairside software. The other option would be to take a physical impression on the implants, seat the abutments on that model and scan that back into the chairside software. If you have the premium software, you can designate a multilayer bridge and design it all together, but I've found those to be my hardest designs.
Now, I scan the implants with Sirona connect 4.5 using the Atlantis FLO scan bodies, that same day I approve the abutment design from Atlantis. By the next morning I have the core file of the abutments that I approved on a model that I can import into my chairside software and I design the traditional bridge. The next day, the abutments arrive from Atlantis. This saves me from either having to do a second scan appointment with the patient or from pulling out my old expired pvs material and doing a traditional impression.
These are a few photos of the process:
They also send an .STL file if you want to print the model with the abutments.
I normally request an insertion guide for bridges, so that I can go directly to the mouth with the correct orientation.
In my opinion, this is an easier workflow for sure. The abutments cost me $150 a piece (for titanium) and about $40 for the zirconia bridge block.
