Fiber-reinforced composite fixed dental prosthesis using an additive manufactured silicone index.

Marta Revilla-León, M.S.D.
Gonzalez, A.M., Piedra-Cascón, W., Zandinejad, A. and Revilla-León, M. (2020). “Fiber-reinforced composite fixed dental prosthesis using an additive manufactured silicone index.” J Esthet Restor Dent.
OBJECTIVE: Digital tools such as facial and intraoral digitizers and additive manufacturing (AM) technologies assist restorative treatments. The objective of the present manuscript was to describe a workflow procedure for treatment planning and fabricating a fiber-reinforced composite fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) replacing an absent maxillary lateral incisor, using additively manufactured silicone indices to facilitate the clinical intervention. CLINICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The elaboration of a direct fiber-reinforced composite restoration is a technique sensitive procedure which might be time-consuming for the clinician. The digital waxing helped to determine the exact position and size of the lingual wings and connectors of the fiber-reinforced FDP and to design a three-piece index. And the AM of the index helped to transfer the information to the patient’s dentition accurately. CONCLUSIONS: The protocol minimizes the time of clinical intervention by facilitating the transference of the virtual diagnostic waxing teeth into the patient’s mouth. The three-piece silicone index provides an individualized path of insertion of each index part while also providing a customized space and location of the lingual wings of the restoration. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The usage of AM silicone indices facilitates the clinical intervention by translating the size and position of the diagnostic wax-up teeth into the patient´s mouth, minimizing clinical procedure’s time.