Materials for chairside CAD/CAM–produced restorations

ABSTRACT Background and OverviewAlthough the use of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) seems to be a recent addition to the dental restorative armamentarium, this concept was first investigated more than 35 years ago. CEREC (Sirona Dental Systems GmbH, Bensheim, Germany) was the first and is the only available chairside system, and it has more than 20 years of use in the dental office. The initial concept had three tenets: esthetic ceramic reconstruction, a single patient visit and minimal tooth reduction (inlays and onlays instead of crowns). The author reviews the materials used for CAD/CAM–fabricated restorations. The structure, properties and clinical success of the materials for full-contour chairside restorations, as well as laboratory-based high-strength all-ceramic restorations are presented.ResultsCAD/CAM restorations have demonstrated clinical success owing to a combination of improvements in materials with advances in CAD/CAM systems. Full-contour ceramic restorations fabricated chair-side may reinforce the tooth, providing good long-term clinical success. High-strength milled restorations allow for the use of all-ceramic restorations for multiple-unit posterior and anterior bridges.Clinical ImplicationsExamination of the structure, properties and clinical results of CAD/CAM materials supports their use in routine dental practice.