20 Journal of Dental Technology April 2007 - JDT Unbound

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