Dr. Roland Glauser is one of the first users of TempShell from Nobel Biocare. Here he explains the benefits it has brought to his practice and patients.
A further stride forward in next-generation integrated workflows, the TempShell solution was devised to boost the efficiency of treatment-partner collaboration. Dr. Roland Glauser is a renowned international speaker, respected academic, and private practitioner in Zurich, Switzerland. An expert in digital workflows, he is one of the first users of TempShell. Here he explains the benefits it has brought to his practice and patients.
What challenges does TempShell overcome for your practice?
According to Dr. Glauser, one of the biggest benefits is saving time. On the very first patient visit, (CB)CT is taken, the intraoral scan is performed, the treatment plan is created in order to visually share it with the patient. Dentists can then share the data with the lab through the cloud, which they access using DTX Studio Lab software, and communication is very straightforward. Dentists easily discuss any modifications, or alterations to the implant placement. The provisional created by the partner lab normally arrives within two days, so TempShell has a very fast production time.
The temporary shell is designed and milled in-lab. Proximal wings are used to place it in the correct position.
Does using TempShell benefit chair time?
“Yes. For us, the TempShell provisional has been fast and easy to place on the day of surgery, which I see as being down to its precision and quality. Patients often assume that the surgical procedure will be far more extensive and time consuming than placing the temporary restoration. But this isn’t always the case with traditional prostheses: Relining, adapting, polishing, occlusal adjustment, and so on, could take far longer. The TempShell solution creates a personalised prosthetic with, in my opinion, such precision. The wings that enable the correct position of the prosthetic are small, and very few adaptions are normally needed,” said Dr. Glauser.
A temporary snap abutment is connected to the shell, then the emergence profile is adapted, and wings are removed.
The workflow means the treatment plan is developed with prosthetic considerations firmly in mind. Why is this so important?
Dr. Glauser explained, “With the prosthetic-driven workflows that we follow, the final outcome of a functional and aesthetic restoration drives the implant treatment plan. What I find most impressive today is the ability to accurately visualise the prosthesis for the patient, practice and technician with such speed. It has helped our patients understand and accept the treatment plan. Then you can select the supportive structure, abutments, provisionals, final abutments, the color and the materials and share with the lab in just a few clicks. It provides a very easy collaboration with a fully digital workflow for the desired results we need to achieve.”
The TempShell individualised screw-retained provisional is placed on the day of surgery.
The workflow takes advantage of the SmartSetup procedure in DTX Studio Implant software. It automatically creates virtual teeth by analysing the patient’s dentition. Have you found this helpful?
“It’s very helpful. It’s easy to combine the radiographic scanning, the (CB)CT data and the stl files using SmartFusion on DTX Studio Implant, which gives the detailed visualisation of the anatomical situation. Then we create the treatment plan with SmartSetup, which we access in a click and only takes us a few seconds,” answered Dr. Glauser.
Ordering the TempShell is very quick. The laboratory follow the intraoral scanning workflow, which is incredibly fast, but if a classic impression is taken the dentist can still share with the DTX Studio Lab immediately.
How does it benefit the labs?
“There are many lab technicians with a lot of experience; how much time do they want to spend on the details of small, straightforward cases? With TempShell, most steps can be completed by machine, freeing up the time needed for the more complex and demanding cases. I see a huge potential for greater production capacity,” he further added.
Images courtesy of Dr. Glauser.
TempShell may not be regulatory cleared/released for sale in all markets. Please contact the local Nobel Biocare sales office for current product assortment and availability.
