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You’ve invested in the latest digital denture technology. Your lab now promises “revolutionary” results in a fraction of the time.
Yet you’re finding that your digitally-designed dentures aren’t quite fitting as they should. The last thing you want is to field complaints from your patients about aesthetics and scheduling unnecessary adjustments.
Even the most modern technology can’t fix fundamental prosthodontic errors. As Dr. Charlie Wahl revealed in his recent Dawson Academy webinar, professionals must balance tech with innate skills.
In essence, your digital tools only amplify what you already know (or don’t know) about removable prosthodontics.
The practices seeing the best digital denture success aren’t the ones with the fanciest scanners. They may be the ones who are still placing analog principles first – and using technology to execute them more precisely.
Before you set off to digitally design another edentulous ridge, ask yourself: Do you actually know where teeth belong?
Can you consistently find centric relation in an edentulous patient? It may sound basic, but the reality still stands: If you can’t answer yes to both, all investing in the best technology in the world won’t save you.
In his webinar training, Dr. Wahl breaks down the non-negotiables that determine whether your digital dentures succeed or fail:
You need centric relation, period.
Gothic arch tracers, manual manipulation, or equilibrating copy dentures – you can pick the method that best fits your needs, but make sure you get it right. Even the fanciest scanner cannot often determine jaw relationships for you.
If you set things wrong digitally, you’ll be adjusting a set of dentures forever physically.
Though they’ve come a long way, most digital tools aren’t sophisticated enough to determine if a patient’s plane should be parallel to the ala-tragus line or their interpupillary line. You’ll need your skills to make that determination!
Where exactly should that central incisor sit? How much tooth shows at rest? What’s the proper buccal corridor?
While you may be tempted to reach for digital tools, sometimes physical models work best. Opt for using existing teeth, old dentures, or anatomical landmarks as guides. Never guess and hope the software figures it out.
Are you still using the “closest speaking space” method? Try Dr. Wahl’s technique: Have patients speak while retracting their cheek. If posterior teeth touch during S sounds, you’re too open.
Remember – your patient doesn’t care about your digital workflow if they can’t pronounce someone’s name. Even more if they look in the mirror and feel that they look fake.
Make sure to test everything chairside before finalizing.
These five principles reflect the simple yet important skills that dental professionals should always keep close at hand.
The risks are just too high to rely solely on technology. As Dr. Wahl learned from Dr. Dawson: “Digital dentistry is definitely the future, but in the absence of sound occlusal principles, it’s only going to allow us to screw things up faster.”
This isn’t to say that all digital methods are bad. In fact, once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, digital workflows solve real problems much faster than you’d expect.
In his training, Dr. Wahl emphasizes how digital workflows can help compress traditional five-appointment sequences into dramatically fewer visits.
What traditionally required separate appointments for impressions, wax rims, jaw relations, and try-ins can now be captured simultaneously. This means that digital workflows have the potential to significantly reduce the number of try-in appointments.
Research has shown that CAD/CAM milled bases can actually exceed injection molding accuracy (which was previously the gold standard). Modern printed bases using materials can often match or exceed milled options.
But here’s the key: you must maintain uniform thickness throughout the prosthetic.
Make sure that the software maintains a consistent 2.5mm thickness everywhere, creating strength through uniformity that’s impossible with hand-waxing.
Does a patient want the midline moved 2mm? Click and drag. Occlusal plane canted? Rotate digitally. Teeth too small? Scale them up.
What used to require complete laboratory remakes now takes minutes with the right tools. But dental teams must still know how to accurately identify potential changes and how to communicate them with patients. The faster the fit, the fewer return visits!
There was a day when wax try-ins would melt if patients drank coffee. Now, teams can use tools to print monolithic try-ins from actual denture material.
Patients take them home, eat dinner, get family approval, then return with real feedback. These become backup dentures after approval, potentially eliminating delivery surprises.
A patient loses their denture at the nursing home? Reprint from saved files. No new impressions, no guesswork, just exact duplication.
This eliminates the need for patients to come into the office for replacements, saving them time and hassle.
Digital dentures aren’t failing patients due to poor technology. They’re likely failing because dentists expect technology to replace clinical judgment in an effort to speed up the process.
The most successful digital denture practitioners aren’t early adopters or tech enthusiasts. They’re clinicians who spent years perfecting analog techniques and now use digital tools to execute those techniques more efficiently.
To find the best of both worlds, stop looking for software to solve your denture problems. Take the time to return to the basics and master the principles that make dentures work. Then – and only then – use digital tools to amplify your expertise.
At the end of the day, your patient doesn’t care if their denture was milled, printed, or carved by hand. They care if they can eat, speak, and smile with confidence. And that still comes down to knowing your prosthodontics, not your software!
Ready to master both analog principles and digital execution? Learn more about The Dawson Academy’s comprehensive denture curriculum online – and take the next step in your development today.
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Concerns or complaints about a CE provider may be directed to the provider or to the Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition at ADA.org/CERP.
