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Modern lifestyle changes led to increased dental care needs in India. Consequently, there has been a sharp rise in dentist numbers. Karnataka state alone produces 2,500 dentists annually, who are engaged in the non‐government sector owing to inadequate public sector opportunities. This article aims to assess Karnataka private dental clinic quality and efficiency.

Dentists were interviewed using a close‐ended, structured interview schedule and their clinics were assessed using a checklist adopted from guidelines for providing machinery and equipment under the National Oral Health Care Programme (NOHCP). Dental “hotel” and clinical quality were scored based on this checklist.

Clinical quality was “excellent” in 12 per cent of clinics and poor in 49 per cent. Clinics with better infrastructure charged higher price (p<0.05). Multi‐chair clinics charging fixed rates were high (81 per cent). According to 59.5 per cent of dentists, competition did not improve quality while 27 per cent felt that competition increased price, not quality. About 30.9 per cent of the poor quality clinics, 41 per cent average quality clinics and 26 per cent good quality clinics were technically efficient.

The multi chair clinics offered better quality at higher prices and single chair clinics provided poorer quality at lower prices. In other words, they had a sub‐optimal price‐quality mix. Therefore, there is a need to regulate price and quality in all clinics to arrive at an optimal price‐quality mix so that clients are not overburdened financially even while receiving good quality dental care.

The article advocates that resources are used optimally as a way to achieve value for money and to achieve break‐even points thereby providing quality care in a competitive market. Factors that influence dental practitioner behaviour are evaluated.

This paper aims to improve the efficiency and the quality of metal dental prostheses, reporting on the first patient‐fitted titanium (Ti) complete denture base plate fabricated by integrating the technologies of computer‐aided design and computer‐aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) and laser rapid forming (LRF).

To make a complete Ti denture base plate, the traditional lost‐wax‐casting technique is commonly used in dentistry. In order to simplify this labor‐intensive process, a new method combined with LRF was invented. Initially, a maxillary edentulous plaster cast was converted to point cloud data by laser scanning system. Subsequently, point cloud data were reconstructed into a 3D solid digital cast, which is stored in standard triangulation language format. Thereafter the 3D denture base was sliced electronically into a sequence of layers defining the regions of the component and, based on it, the complete Ti denture base plate was built layer‐by‐layer using a laser additive manufacturing technology.

After CAD/CAM/LRF process, the Ti denture base plate was designed and successfully fabricated layer‐by‐layer. After the traditional dental finishing techniques, the complete Ti denture base plate was made and assessed by clinician and patient. The clinical evaluation on quality of fit was judged to be acceptable.

The CAD/CAM/LRF system is a potential candidate to replace the traditional lost‐wax‐casting technique and provides a new platform for the design and manufacturing of custom‐made Ti denture plates and other restorations especially for implant substructure and framework of partial removal of denture.

This study aims to design and fabricate a customized multi-rooted dental implant (MRDI) for a canine strategic tooth to reduce surgical time/effort, and better assembly features, leading to enhanced primary and secondary stability and load-bearing capabilities by direct-metal laser sintering (DMLS).

A fractured tooth of a male German Shepherd three-year-old dog (extracted from a cadaver) was selected as the subject for the proposed work. The computer-aided design model of the implant was developed on SOLIDWORKS after a detailed review of literature and consultation with a veterinary doctor about the surgical procedures. Static stress analysis on the implant assembly and residual stress analysis with boundary distortion were performed on each part of the implant subassembly to ensure the fool-proof design.

The functional prototype of the innovative MRDI assembly through DMLS was successfully prepared with acceptable dimensional stability, surface roughness (Ra) and refined microstructure. The 3D printed functional prototype was observed to be residual stress-proof during printing and can bear up to 800 N bite force (required for an adult dog).

Innovative MRDI assembly has been 3D printed by using 17–4 precipitate hardened stainless steel without compromising the strength and can be implanted without bone grafting for better primary stability. Also, the prepared implant will be better for secondary stability due to enhanced osseointegration.

The biomechanical problem of investigating the behaviour of a maxillary partial denture is treated by non‐linear finite element analyses. The finite element models developed allow the solution of an inverse problem to find material data of the palatal tissue and the computation of pressure distributions between the palatal plate of the denture and the palatal tissue as well as the determination of the forces acting on the anchoring teeth. This information is essential from the physiological point of view in order to avoid configurations causing pain to the patient and to prevent the natural teeth from becoming slack. Such analyses can serve as a basis for the computer aided design of proper palatal dentures.

ESPE, the market leader, is a medium-sized German manufacturer of precision dental impression materials competing in a shrinking market. To grow the business, ESPE invests substantial resources in innovative impression materials and associated distribution mechanisms. Squeezed by the shrinking market, the competition is increasingly using the proprietary channels (dispensing mechanisms) and brand equity (trademark) of ESPE to maintain their market share. There is a potential infringement. Explores how ESPE is organized to execute on the options imbedded in its IP rights.

To provide students with an understanding of how to use brands and trademarks in conjunction with trade secrets, patents, and other forms of IP in mature markets to build and maintain innovation-based competitive advantage.

Partial denture bases are often constructed from metallic materials because of the greater strength and rigidity of metals compared with polymeric substances such as polymethylmeth‐acrylate. The primary choice of metal for this purpose has been gold and gold alloys. More recently other systems such as the stainless steels and cobalt‐chromium alloys have been used. Whilst yellow gold, i.e. alloys containing at least 60% gold, has near‐ideal physical properties, it has one major disadvantage in being very costly. A further criticism, although infrequently raised, is the colour, which some patients find too obtrusive. The cost of the base alloy can be reduced by alloying gold with palladium and silver to produce the so‐called white golds. These materials are some 50% lower in cost than yellow gold, are grey in colour but have rather inferior mechanical properties. This is clearly shown by Table 1.

This paper aims to present a new design for removable partial dentures (RPDs) for partially edentulous patients to improve the efficiency and quality of RPD manufacturing. Additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies and zirconium silicate micro-ceramic bonding in the aesthetic zone are used herein.

A case was presented. First, RPD digital definitive casts were acquired, and then digital frameworks with crown retainers and digital crowns were obtained by computer-aided design (CAD). The titanium alloy frameworks and resin crowns were fabricated by three-dimensional (3D) printing and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) processes, respectively. The crowns adhered to the crown retainers. Ceramage bonding was used to reform the gingival anatomy in the aesthetic zone during the fabrication of the RPDs. The finished RPDs were assessed by a clinician and delivered to the patient.

The RPDs were conventionally assessed by a clinician, were deemed to be accurate and satisfied both the patient and clinician.

This novel method provides a way to fabricate RPDs with a combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies. The design of the framework was different from that of a conventional framework because it contained the crown retainers, and the traditional base retainer no longer existed. Ceramage bonding was used to replicate the gingival anatomy in the aesthetic zone. The new RPDs provided accuracy and were less time-consuming to produce than those produced with the traditional method. The new method enables the digital manufacturing of nearly the entire RPDs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore an application of computer‐aided design and manufacture (CAD/CAM) to a process of electronically surveying a scanned dental cast as a prior stage to producing a sacrificial pattern for a removable partial denture (RPD) metal alloy framework.

With the introduction of laser scan technology and commercial reverse engineering software, a standard plaster maxillary dental cast with dentition defect was successfully scanned and created as a STL‐formatted digital cast. With the software, the unwanted undercuts were eliminated based on the desired path of insertion. Parts of the RPD framework were then successfully custom‐designed and combined as a whole.

A sacrificial pattern was produced by rapid prototyping (RP) method and finally casted with chromium cobalt alloy. With suitable finishing process, both the sacrificial pattern and the casted framework fitted the cast well.

The research indicated the feasibility of creating a library of RPD framework components. It is believed that, in the future, with the advance of the techniques, a totally new platform can be developed for the design and fabrication of custom‐fit RPD framework based on the CAD/CAM/RP system.

It is not an easy and simple task to manufacture a complete denture with high quality. Traditionally, it often needs a medical expert with experience and hand‐on skill, due to the manual way of denture manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to implement the multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot system that can fully automate the denture manufacturing process.

A novel complete denture manufacturing mechanism is designed, which is based on the multi‐manipulator and dental arch generator. The visual tooth‐arrangement and robot control software is developed in VC++6.0. Preliminary experiments on tooth‐arrangement have been conducted using the proposed multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot prototype system.

The multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot prototype system can automatically design and manufacture a set of complete denture that fit a patient by visual tooth‐arrangement and robot control software according to the patient's jaw arch parameters.

The implication of research is that it is feasible that the manufacture strategy of complete denture fulfilled by multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot. The limitation of research is that it is difficult to realize coordinate control.

The traditional manual method which makes complete denture by medical personal experience will be changed after the multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot system is manufactured, and adjustment to each tooth position and orientation will be realized by this system.

The aim of this study was to explore the application of rapid manufacturing (RM) to the production of patient specific, custom‐fitting removable partial denture (RPD) alloy frameworks. RPDs are metal frameworks designed to retain artificial replacement teeth in the oral cavity.

The study was undertaken by applied case study. An RPD was designed using computer‐aided design software according to well‐established dental technology design principles, based on a digitally scanned cast produced from an impression of the patient's mouth. The RPD design was then exported as an STL file in preparation for direct manufacture using selective laser melting. Dimensionally accurate frameworks were manufactured in 316L stainless steel and chromium‐cobalt alloy. These were assessed for accuracy of fit and function on the patient cast and on the patient in clinic.

This successful case study demonstrates that an RM approach can produce fully functional, precisely fitting RPD frameworks for specific individual patients.

The study was based on a single design produced using two materials. Further studies are in progress to show that the results can be achieved on a regular and predictable basis.

This study provides some practical guidance for the application described and suggests that similar success may be achieved in related custom‐fitting applications.

The paper demonstrates the successful application of a novel approach to the design and manufacture of custom‐fitting dental devices.