Saturday, November 27
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Dr. Ralf Müller-Hartwich, Berlin

Orthodontic CAD/CAM systems for treatment planning, appliance design and manufacturing

Established methods require much manual work, skill and experience of the orthodontist. However, predictability
and reproducibility of treatment outcomes are limited. Conventional fixed appliances,usually consisting of prefabricated components, require step-by-step adjustment in order to move teeth in the planned direction. Normally, additional tooth movements are necessary at least in the finishing phase at the end of treatment, prolonging treatment time and compromising treatment outcome. Exact treatment planning, e.g. with set-ups, and customized appliances can reduce these problems. Conventional lab set-ups are time-consuming yet and were therefore limited to exceptional situations so far. Advances in imaging, computers, networks and robotics led to the introduction of new methods to orthodontics. Virtual models are generated by scans of plaster casts or
impressions, by intraoral scans or calculated from cone-beam CT data. In this way, treatment can be simulated in advance and different treatment strategies can be compared; this allows detailed treatment planning. The application of CAD/CAM enables the production of customized orthodontic appliances in order to put the planned tooth movements into practice. This lecture will present the state of the art and current systems.

Dr. Ralf Müller-Hartwich passed in 1998 his dental licensing exam and became in 2003 Specialist in orthodontics followed in 2004 by the Doctorate as Dr. med. dent. and his time as Senior consultant and assistant professor at the Department of Orthodontics, Dentofacial Orthopedics and Pedodontics of the Charité University Berlin. He was author of numerous publications and held various lectures, in the present focussed on the clinical application of orthodontic CAD/CAM systems and 3-D imaging in orthodontics.

E-mail: ralf.mueller-hartwich@charite.de