PITTSBURGH - Three new dentistry labs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine will give students and residents hands-on experience with cutting edge digital dental technology while providing patients with the latest in modern dental care.
"Pitt Dental Medicine's new digital dentistry labs represent a bold step into the future of dentistry," said Robert Nerone, DMD, vice chair and assistant professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Comprehensive Care and director of Chairside Digital Dentistry at the Pitt School of Dental Medicine. "Integrated into both our curriculum and patient care processes, these state-of-the-art facilities are designed to transform how we educate students, train residents and care for our patients."
Very few dental schools in the U.S. have integrated digital dentistry centers that support preclinical, clinical and advanced workflows under one roof with a shared digital infrastructure, according to Suvendra Vijayan, M.S., MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Diagnostic Sciences and director of 3D Printing and Advanced Technologies at the Pitt School of Dental Medicine.
"This new effort at Pitt Dental Medicine represents one of the first fully integrated, multi-level digital workflows in U.S. dental education," he said. "This structure reflects how cutting-edge private practices and high-end dental labs operate, giving students and residents real-world experience in a fully modernized environment."
According to Nerone, the new digital labs will offer improved clinical treatment options for patients. Digital workflows reduce human error and provide highly precise restorations such as crowns, bridges and dentures, while improving efficiency and turnaround times by streamlining production processes.
Digital records and designs can also facilitate better communication between the dentist, lab technician and patient and allow for more personalized and esthetically pleasing restorations.
"This is not just about fancy equipment," said Vijayan. "It's about training future-ready dentists who are competent with intraoral scanning, computer-assisted design (CAD), 3D printing and chairside milling and providing patients modern, efficient care with faster turnaround times and improved outcomes."
The three labs are:
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The Preclinic Lab is for preclinical first- and second-year predoctoral students to safely practice digital techniques and develop skills in scanning and designing with CAD/CAM software. They will fabricate their projects on 3D models of the oral cavity before transitioning to live patient care.
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The General Dentistry Practice Lab is for third- and fourth-year predoctoral students to scan, design and manufacture prosthetics and restorations for patients in the school's General Dentistry Practice, allowing students to gain hands-on clinical experience and real-time feedback on clinical performance in a full digital workflow similar to that of modern private practices.
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The Resident/Specialty Practice Lab is devoted to dental resident use for their designs and manufacturing for the school's Specialty Practices. Here, residents will refine their expertise by working on complex cases requiring nuanced design and manufacturing decisions and have the opportunity to explore materials, workflows and case studies that contribute to clinical research.
