Keynote Address: The Impact of CAD/CAM on Restorative Dentistry: Past, Present and Future

Abstract Body: Even if it may sound incredible, CAD/CAM restorations have been around for more than 30 years. This is a long period of time equivalent to a whole generation of dentists. However, only one manufacturer was really active in the field at the beginning, which might be one of the reasons why the penetration of CAD/CAM into daily clinical routine has been limited for decades. The situation is actually changing, with a lot of competition between several companies on the device side (optical 3D scanners, milling machines, 3D printers) and on the materials side as well, leading to a creative boost of development with simultaneous spreading of CAD/CAM into dental offices and into the dental laboratories as well.

All this is fascinating, but the near future may be even more overwhelming: Actually, we are witnessing an explosive expansion of technology beyond classic CAD/CAM applications as we arrive on the doorsteps of a fully digital, virtual patient who is embedded into a completely virtual digital workflow, with monitoring and treatments performed under augmented reality.