SensAble Technologies announces Release 3 of Dental Lab System

Feb 26 2010

SensAble Technologies, Inc®, a leading provider of touch-enabled 3D modeling systems, dental CAD/CAM solutions and haptic devices, has announced Release 3 of the SensAble Dental Lab System (SDLS), with significant enhancements to this integrated system for creating dental restorations efficiently and more cost-effectively.

“The SensAble Dental Lab System has been a huge productivity plus to our lab since day one, and it just keeps getting better and better”

Release 3 dramatically speeds the scan, design and fabrication processes for partial dentures as well as crowns and bridges; provides support for milling; adds support for impression scanning and the SensAble OpenScan™ interface; and expands SensAble’s unique software intelligence, called Intelli-Fit™, that automatically compensates for inaccuracies inherent in both digital and manual processes such as scanning artifacts and physical distortions introduced during fabrication processes. With analysts predicting a significant increase in CAD/CAM-created dental prosthetic devices through 2015, Release 3 lets labs gain optimal value from their technology investment and achieve sought-after efficiencies throughout their workflow.

In related news today, SensAble announced its first two Authorized Milling Centers and introduced its dental impression scanner (see press releases). The company will preview Release 3 enhancements at the Cal-Lab and LAB DAY events in Chicago this week.

"The SensAble Dental Lab System has been a huge productivity plus to our lab since day one, and it just keeps getting better and better," said Kristine Van Cleve, president of Dental Prosthetic Services (DPS). "In our business, every minute saved goes directly to the bottom line. As a beta partner, we're already appreciating the new release’s dramatic speed improvements, and the many software enhancements that are allowing us to complete even more types of restorations than before. Release 3 is a perfect example of how SensAble continues to expand the versatility of their system as well as their commitment to helping dental labs grow."

“Dental labs either have to get more efficient, or they face a diminished role as digital methods transform the industry and demand for dental restorations increases,” said Bob Steingart, president of SensAble Dental Products. “But, speed isn’t enough – labs need to produce accurate, consistent products on a repeatable basis, or their dentists will go elsewhere. Release 3 of the SensAble Dental Lab System continues to extend SensAble’s built-in advantage of total integration from A-to-Z. We sweat the hundreds of details involved in digital design and production so that lab technicians can focus on what they do best – designing precise, esthetically pleasing and great fitting restorations.”

Release 3 Highlights:

• Scan:
  • Support for impression scanning, providing increased accuracy and speed. Labs can start designing digitally using the impression scan right away.
  • New OpenScan interface, which will allow the SensAble Dental Lab System to import industry-standard STL files from other open scanners that a lab may already own.
  • Faster scanning times, through innovative software and enhanced integration.
• Design:
  • Dramatically faster performance through innovative applications of hardware and software acceleration.
  • Expanded versatility with more types of restorations and streamlined design workflows for inlays, onlays, metal occlusion, metal dummies, open facings, and combination cases with attachments.
  • Enhanced features that speed design for multiple workflows, such as improved automatic positioning and sizing of virtual teeth, connectors, retention beads, hollow pontics and multi-part partials.
• Fabricate:
  • Support for milling and the ability to send digital design files to SensAble Authorized Milling Centers, providing labs with an additional fabrication option.
  • Intelli-Fit processing to automatically adjust, by restoration type, for fabrication techniques (3D printing and milling) and materials (alloys, ceramics, investment, resins, plastics, etc.).

The SensAble Dental Lab System is the only CAD/CAM solution that includes built-in support for both fixed and removable restorations in an integrated, touch-enabled platform. The system also uniquely incorporates a 3D “virtual touch” stylus where technicians work by holding a haptic (touch-enabled) device instead of a computer mouse, and use virtual wax-up tools to literally feel the onscreen model as they apply, smooth and carve digital wax. This touch-enabled approach mimics the traditional method of hand-modeling dental restorations, allowing technicians to keep the artistry and manual dexterity they have spent years perfecting.

System Configurations and Availability

Release 3 of the SensAble Dental Lab System is sold in several configurations to suit the needs of any size lab:

1) A complete SensAble Authorized Production Center configuration for labs that want complete in-house control, from scan to fabrication, to produce their own restorations, and that may also want the option of providing production services for other SensAble Dental Lab customers.

2) A Scan/Design configuration, for labs that want to design in-house, but outsource fabrication.

3) And, a Scan-only option for labs that want to outsource both design and fabrication.