Shane Williams, CDT, Owner
Studio 32

 

At Studio 32, we adopted the Open Implants system because it provides us with a streamlined digital workflow. It also reduces our inventory and provides us with reliable results across various systems. They offer libraries for both 3Shape and exocad for all components. The OI Ti base, when purchased is 10mm tall and can be shortened as needed (to 8mm, 6, 5, or 4). The library allows us, the technicians, to specify the height of the ti-base in the order and design a more ideal final restoration.

Why use scan bodies?

Technicians sometimes ask why not scan the ti-base instead of scanning the scanbody? The scanbody is designed for the highest degree of accuracy for the 3D positioning of the implant (or analog). The digital library for the titanium base has the exact geometry of the OI Ti base. In addition, the library also has a built in cement gap for an ideal interface between the restoration and the titanium base or insert. When scanning a titanium (or any metal component) scanner technology falls short on accuracy. This results in poor fit of the sintered restoration to the base as the workflow is not nearly as accurate. In fact, we found either rotation or grinding of the restoration too common when scanning the Ti base. When scanning with a scan body this is far more consistent.

How do I know?

How do I know that scanning with a scan body is better? We have tested both scanning workflows and found that using a scan body provided a far more consistent result. To start, we scanned several cases twice, once with the scanbody and another time with the ti-base. We found that the scanbody gave us a secure fit with very limited rotation while the ti-base scans were almost routinely not fitting as well.