20 Journal of Dental Technology April 2007 - JDT Unbound

20 Journal of Dental Technology April 2007

ences may make
good neighbors,
but the virtual
frontier’s fences of closed
architecture can limit your
choices and your success.
Every piece of digital
equipment you own from
your cell phone to a CAD/
CAM system has either a
closed or an open system.
In a closed system, the
technological specifications
are proprietary and the
opposite is true in the
case of open architecture
systems.
Take you cell phone, for example.
Let’s say you bought a cell phone from
Verizon. In a closed architecture system,
you can only call people who had a
Verizon phone. In an open architecture
system, you can call anyone on any type
of phone no matter the type or brand.
The vast majority of technology
in the dental laboratory industry
from scanners to complete CAD/
CAM systems is closed architecture.
Manufacturers have been creative in
meeting the needs of users without
opening up their systems. For example,
if you want to use the InEos scanner
from Sirona, but don’t want to purchase
the InLab CAD/CAM system or if
you already own a CAD/CAM system
from a different manufacturer, all is not
lost. Sirona started InfiniDent, which
April 2007 Journal of Dental Technology 21

allows you to scan a die with InEos and
send the digital information to Sirona’s
production center, where your coping is
manufactured.
It’s a solution, but not a complete
one. The drawback being that because
Sirona’s is a closed system you can’t send
the digital information from your InEos
scanner to a Lava (3M) CAD/CAM
system or any other type of CAD/CAM
system not manufactured by Sirona. The
close architecture dilemma has some of
the leading research and development
technicians looking to see what other
options are available.
“One of the things that I’m going
to spend a lot of time looking at during
the (International Dental Show in
Cologne, Germany) in March is what
else is out there. Open architecture is
going to be the way it’s going to end
up. I think there is going to be pressure
on the big players to open up at least
part of their systems to that,” said Jim
Boshoven, CDT, director of technical
research at Dental Services Group. “I
think if you open it up you encourage
development from a lot of other people
and I think you it could drive the
prices down. That’s why I think open
architecture has got some advantages.”
The main advantages of open
architecture being:
Choice − You could utilize the same
scanner to manufacture restorations
using different CAD/CAM
systems, whether outsourcing to
another laboratory or using a system
you have in house.
Competition − Different manufacturers
could produce peripheral equipment,
such as a scanner, that would
work with any CAD/CAM system
and produce spare parts to meet
any budget and schedule.
Cost − Competition among
manufacturers and the addition of
new players to the market could
make it more financially feasible for
small to medium sized laboratories
to participate in CAD/CAM
manufacturing.
So why are there still technological
fences Because manufacturers have to
walk the line between creating products
that are user friendly and maintaining a
healthy bottom line, which allows them
to pay their employees and continue
researching technological advancement.
In addition, manufacturers must agree
on a standard set of output parameters.
Manufacturers in Europe are leading
the release of more open architecture
systems, while the U.S. is lagging behind
in this respect.
For example, the Switzerland-based
Laserdenta OpenScan 3D scanner was
showing off its five-axis scanner and
computer-aided design modeler at the
Chicago Dental Society Midwinter
Meeting in Chicago. The scanner uses
the standard scanning files, known as
STL files, and can be used with any
milling machine, fabrication center or
3D printer that accepts those standard,
open-file formats.
According to the manufacturer, the
five axis give the scanner the freedom of
movement necessary to precisely digitize
any dental model including undercuts
and abutments. It scans not only models,
but also scans directly from impressions
as well. And while it uses open format
STL file, the drawback to this scanner
is that the most commonly used computer-aided
manufacturing systems in
Laserdenta OpenScan User-Interface
22 Journal of Dental Technology April 2007

the U.S., such as Sirona’s inLab or 3M’s
Lava, maintain closed systems.
While many manufacturers say
they are looking into the possibilities of
open architecture, until more companies
go from looking to committing
laboratory owners will continue to have
limited choices even if they have an open
architecture scanner.
To be sure, there are challenges to
setting a dental industry standard for
open architecture. While many dentists
and technicians doubt manufacturers
will embrace the potential of open
architecture, they crave the freedom of a
fence-free virtual frontier.
“On my side I want to be able
to use the technician I’ve used my
whole life. I don’t want to be forced,
because I bought this system, to use
some laboratory in another state. I
want to have the option to use my
ceramist here,” said Paul Feuerstein,
DMD, a frequent writer and lecturer on
technology in dentistry.
Boshoven agrees that the
possibilities for dentists and laboratory
technicians abound with open
architecture.
“You’re going to have more options
if you go with the open architecture. To
be able to take the same information and
send it to a number of different places or
machines to create it,” he said. “It just
makes sense to me that that’s the way the
industry is going to go because that’s the
way every other industry has gone. We’re
kind of an odd industry in many ways
but we’re not that much different.”
LaserdentaCAD Modeler
Open Architecture Basics
What is it
• A system in which the technology’s specifi cations are
made public in order to encourage third-party vendors
to develop add-on products. For example, your
personal computer has open architecture so you are
able to download software and add on peripherals,
such as a printer, not manufactured by the company
that built your computer. In the dental laboratory world,
an open architecture CAD/CAM system would enable
you to accept a digital impression, for example, no
matter what system the dentist used.
What are the benefits
• It will create additional competitive sources for
components.
• System integrators would be able to seamlessly connect
different CAD/CAM systems into an effective enterprise.
• You will be able to select from a variety of spare parts
sources to meet you budget and schedule.
April 2007 Journal of Dental Technology 23