Digital Dentistry in İzmir: Intraoral Scanning, CAD/CAM and 3D PlanningDigital Dentistry in İzmir: Intraoral Scanning, CAD/CAM and 3D Planning 

Digital dentistry is not a treatment in itself but a way of planning and making treatment. It links data capture (intraoral scanning, photos and video, and 3D X-rays where needed), design (computer-aided design, CAD), production (computer-aided manufacturing, CAM) and clinical delivery into one connected workflow.

In prosthodontics, this workflow underpins smile design, fixed restorations such as zirconia crowns and porcelain veneers, and implant-supported prostheses. Because the data are stored digitally, the dentist, the dental technician and, when needed, other specialists can all work from the same model.

An intraoral scanner is a device with a wand roughly the size of a large pen that optically captures the surfaces of your teeth and gums. It stitches together a large number of images in seconds to build a 3D model on screen. With a traditional impression, a tray filled with impression material sits in your mouth for a few minutes until it sets, is removed, and is then used to pour a plaster model in the laboratory.

The difference most patients notice is that there is no material setting in the mouth. For people with a strong gag reflex, this is usually a more comfortable experience, and short breaks are easy to take. If an area has been missed, only that area needs rescanning rather than repeating the whole impression. If you are worried about how your teeth might be prepared, our guide to “Turkey teeth”, veneers and crowns explains why careful planning matters.

When facial and smile photographs are combined with an intraoral scan, new tooth shapes can be assessed on screen in relation to your facial proportions, lip line and gum level. This virtual design can then be transferred onto your existing teeth with a temporary material for a trial in the mouth (mock-up). Before anything permanent is done, you can see the proposed length and shape in the mirror and in photographs, and changes can be made at this stage.

A mock-up also guides how much, if any, tooth preparation is needed; where teeth are being built out, preparation can often be reduced. The full aesthetic planning process, facial analysis and appointment plan are described on our smile design page.

In the CAD (design) stage, the dentist and technician design the margins of the crown or bridge, its contacts with neighbouring teeth and its bite against the opposing jaw on the scanned model. A virtual articulator, a software tool that simulates jaw movements, allows chewing contacts to be checked in advance.

In the CAM (manufacturing) stage, the design is milled from blocks of zirconia, lithium disilicate (such as E.max), hybrid ceramic or, for temporaries, acrylic-based materials, or it is 3D printed. 3D printers are also used for models, surgical guides, temporary teeth and night guards (splints); splints used in TMJ and bruxism care can be designed from a digital scan.

Milled ceramic restorations, especially for front teeth, are finished by a ceramist with characterisation and glazing. Production time depends on the type of restoration, the material, whether a try-in is needed and the laboratory process. Some single restorations can be made relatively quickly in suitable cases; for multi-tooth aesthetic work, allowing time for try-in appointments usually gives a more predictable result. Our trip planning guide explains how this affects the length of your stay.

For implant treatment, a cone beam CT (CBCT) scan of the bone can be merged with an intraoral scan and the planned tooth design in the same software. Implants are then planned virtually while seeing bone volume, nerves, the sinus and the position of the future tooth together. This is the digital form of prosthetically driven planning, the core principle of implant prosthodontics.

The plan can be transferred to the mouth using a 3D-printed surgical guide, which helps place the implant at the planned angle and position. A guide is not necessary or suitable in every case, however: mouth opening, how well the guide seats and the bone conditions found during surgery can all affect the plan. The final decision during surgery rests with the surgical team.

Standardised photographs of the face, smile and teeth, along with short videos, are an integral part of the digital workflow. They help assess lip movement, how much tooth shows when you speak, and tooth shade. For shade matching, photographs taken with glare-reducing techniques and a shade guide can be shared with the laboratory.

• Planning: facial proportions and smile line are analysed before any design.
• Communication: the technician can work while seeing your face and smile, not just a model.
• Follow-up: scans and photos can be compared at later reviews to track gum level, wear or colour change.

Photographs and scans are personal health data. They are stored securely for treatment purposes under Turkish data protection law (KVKK, comparable in spirit to GDPR) and are never published without your explicit written consent.

Digital methods make many steps easier, but they are not sufficient on their own in every situation. An honest view includes the following limitations:

• Deep margins under the gum: a scanner records only what it can see. With bleeding, saliva or margins deep below the gum, soft-tissue management or a conventional impression may be needed.
• Fully toothless jaws: recording mobile tissues and denture borders may require a functional impression for complete dentures; conventional and digital methods are often combined.
• Long full-arch implant scans: accurately capturing the relative positions of many implants is technically demanding and may need extra verification steps such as a try-in framework.
• A screen design is a prediction: virtual designs and mock-ups approximate the final result; tissue response, colour and lighting can look different in the mouth.
• Data quality: a design is only as accurate as the clinical information behind it; the bite and jaw movements are still verified clinically.

For this reason, the prosthodontist decides case by case which steps are done digitally and which conventionally. The aim is not to use technology for its own sake but to choose the most predictable route for each patient. To discuss your options, request an appointment via our contact page; more answers are on the FAQ page.