Hyderabad: Preparing teeth implants and crowns takes seven to 10 days. Dental colleges and the Army College of Dental Science are working with Computer-Aided Technology to ensure that the waiting time is done away with.
Senior dentist Dr Srinivas Rao said that the machines cost about Rs 70 lakh, “but we are looking at them closely as the time gets cut down to three hours.”
He said the computer takes the impression of the tooth and transmitted to laboratory technicians who can create the tooth within a few hours. “This will help to save a lot of time which is the common complaint of patients,” he said. The machines will also remove the human error factor.
Right now, however, dentists speaking at a seminar in the city said teeth impressions are taken manually and implants and crowns crafted in the laboratory. This takes up to 10 days, and leaves patients restless.
Former Dental Council president Dr K.M. Reddy said, “The problem is that people come at the last minute when their tooth requires urgent care. But any implant or crown requires to be made according to the specific body type. As it is done manually it is a time consuming procedure hence we urge in our dental camps that people must come early to clinics.”
BITS Pilani, Army Dental College devise robotic arm
The Army College of Dental Sciences along with BITS Pilani on Sunday presented an experimental indigenous robotic arm for dental surgeries at the two-day national workshop on CAD/CAM and digital dentistry.
The arm has been designed for dental surgeries which require drilling into the jaw bone. Chairman and ACDS principal Dr K.V. Ramana Reddy and Dr P. Laxman Rao, HoD of prosthodontics, said the robot would reduce human error while placing dental implants.
Dr Rao said, “We often find that if a 10 mm hole has to be drilled in the bone it can sometime go to 11 mm due to human error. This robotic arm will help us to be precise.”
