Technology & Patient Resources
Connected from start to finish
One continuous chain of digital data running from diagnosis through to the restoration in your mouth — so nothing is lost in translation between stages.
What a digital workflow actually means
A digital workflow connects every phase of treatment through a single dataset. Your diagnosis, treatment plan, surgical procedure, and prosthetic fabrication all read from the same information.
It begins with an intraoral scan or 3D CBCT image — a digital record of your anatomy replacing impression material and two-dimensional film. That data feeds directly into the planning software used for guided implant surgery, CAD/CAM design, and in-house fabrication.
The same file, all the way through
When an implant is planned, the 3D scan defines its exact position. When a crown is designed, the digital impression defines its shape. When the restoration is fabricated, the design file drives the milling machine.
Each step reads from the same source. No re-scanning, no physical models, and no manual transcription of measurements — which is precisely where errors and small inaccuracies used to accumulate.
What this changes in practice
Accuracy
Each hand-copied measurement used to be a chance for a small error. Removing those steps removes those chances. What the research supports is that the digital route is as accurate as the conventional one for most restorations — not that it is dramatically better. The gain is in consistency and in the number of steps where something can go wrong.
Speed
The file moves between planning, design and manufacture instantly, instead of travelling between buildings.
Predictability
What was planned digitally is what gets executed, because the guide and the mill are both driven by the plan itself.
Revisability
Because everything is a file, plans can be revisited, compared, and adjusted without starting over.
The scan, and what the research actually shows
The first step used to be a tray of impression putty held in your mouth while it set. Now it is usually a small camera taking several thousand images and assembling them into a three-dimensional model.
It is worth knowing what the evidence says about this, because the marketing around it tends to overstate the case.
- For single crowns and short-span bridges of roughly three to five units, digital scanning and conventional impressions perform comparably. Reviews find the fit at the edge of the crown is clinically sound, and no different in practice from a well-taken conventional impression. Comparable, not better.
- For long spans and complete arches, conventional impressions remain more reliable. A scanner builds its model by stitching many small images together, and small errors accumulate along the length of the scan. Reviews consistently identify this as the main remaining limitation.
- Most patients prefer the scan, and most find it more comfortable. Studies of patient-reported outcomes report less gagging, shorter time in the chair and a clear preference for scanning. This matters most if you have ever gagged on impression material — see severe gag reflex.
- Not everyone prefers it. Some people find the scanner head bulky, or the sustained mouth opening tiring, particularly when the back teeth are being scanned. If that is you, say so; a conventional impression is still a perfectly good way to take a record.
Where a conventional impression is still the right choice
This is the part usually left out. A digital workflow is not automatically the correct answer, and we will tell you when it is not.
- Full-arch fixed work. For a long-span or full-arch fixed prosthesis, the accumulated stitching error in a full-arch scan is a real consideration. Depending on the case we may take a conventional impression, or verify the digital record against one.
- Deep or bleeding margins. A scanner photographs what it can see. If a preparation margin sits below the gum and the field will not stay dry and visible, an impression material that flows can capture what a camera cannot.
- Cases where the bite has to be built up from scratch. Extensive reconstruction is often planned with physical models and trial teeth you wear for a while. What is being tested is how it feels over weeks, not how it measures — full mouth reconstruction.
Having both routes available in one building is the actual advantage. The choice is made on the case rather than on which equipment happens to be in the room.
Design and manufacture
Once there is a digital model, the restoration is designed on screen and then made — either milled from a solid block of ceramic or printed, depending on what it is.
- Milling cuts the restoration from a pre-fired ceramic block. Because the block was manufactured under controlled conditions, its internal structure is consistent in a way hand-layered porcelain is not — CAD/CAM dentistry.
- Printing builds up surgical guides, models and provisional restorations layer by layer.
- Doing it here rather than posting it out is what allows a crown to be fitted at the same appointment, and allows a shade or contour to be adjusted while you are still in the chair — same-day crowns.
On how long these last: reviews of CAD/CAM ceramic restorations report survival of roughly 95 percent at three years and beyond. Longer-term figures for chairside milled crowns are less settled. The ten-year data comes from small studies, not large trials. So a confident ten-year number for this kind of crown goes further than the evidence does.
Planning an implant on the same data
Implant planning is where the connected workflow earns most of its keep. Two records are merged: a 3D CBCT scan showing the bone, and an intraoral scan showing the teeth and gums. Planned together, the implant position can be chosen against both the bone available and the tooth that will eventually sit on it.
That plan is then printed as a surgical guide, which sits over the teeth and directs the drill along the planned path — computer-guided implant surgery.
How close does it get? Reviews of guided surgery report the implant ending up about two to four degrees off the planned angle. At the head of the implant that is around a millimetre, and at the tip one to one and a half. Reviews generally find this closer than freehand placement, though there is no reliable pooled figure comparing the two directly. So a guide narrows the gap. It does not close it, and it does not replace judgement during surgery.
What a digital workflow does not do
- It does not diagnose. Software measures and displays. Deciding what a finding means, and whether it needs treating at all, is clinical judgement.
- It does not make a poor plan good. A precisely executed plan that was wrong to begin with is precisely wrong. The planning stage is where the thinking happens.
- It does not remove biology. Healing, bone quality and gum health govern outcomes and none of them is a data problem.
- It does not remove discomfort and it does not promise an outcome. It changes how the work is recorded, planned and made.
Sources
The figures above come from published systematic reviews. They cover five areas: digital against conventional impressions, what patients say about scanning, full-arch scanning accuracy, how long CAD/CAM ceramic restorations last, and accuracy in guided implant surgery. In two places the pooled evidence is thin. One is how long chairside milled crowns last beyond a few years. The other is a direct comparison of guided against freehand implant placement. Where that is the case, this page says so instead of quoting a number that is not there. Reviewed September 2026.
Common questions
Is a digital scan more accurate than the old impression putty?+
For single crowns and short-span bridges, systematic reviews find the two comparable rather than one clearly better. For long-span and full-arch work, conventional impressions are still generally more reliable, because a scanner stitches many images together and small errors accumulate over distance.
Will the scan make me gag?+
Far less than impression material does, and reduced gagging is one of the most consistent findings in patient-preference studies. Some people do find the scanner head bulky or the mouth opening tiring, particularly at the back. Tell us and we will work around it.
Can you make any crown in one visit?+
Most, but not all. Some cases still suit a laboratory-layered crown over two visits, usually for shade-matching reasons in the front of the mouth. We will say which yours is rather than defaulting to the faster route.
How long do milled ceramic crowns last?+
Reviews of CAD/CAM ceramic restorations report around 95 percent survival at three years and beyond. Reliable ten-year figures for chairside monolithic crowns specifically are not well established, so we would rather tell you that than quote a number the evidence does not support.
Does a surgical guide mean the implant goes exactly where planned?+
Very close, not exactly. Systematic reviews of static guided surgery report mean deviations of roughly two to four degrees and about a millimetre at the implant head. A guide reduces deviation; it does not remove it, and it does not replace judgement during the procedure.
Have a question?
Call (905) 479-7777 to book a consultation.