One dentist shares how Axsys Dental Solutions' milling systems have helped transform his in-house manufacturing processes and elevate implant dentistry for his colleagues
In early 2020, Dr. Ryan Dunlop launched Full Arch Masters as a small-scale, peer-to-peer education program. The goal was simple: help his colleagues learn how to manage complex implant restorative cases using in-house milling.
"While I was teaching these dentists about in-house laboratory manufacturing, I started noticing limitations with my own equipment," shared Dr. Dunlop, who practices in Fresno, CA. That included systems and software that frequently ran slowly, were prone to random glitches, and would often break down for weeks at a time. “To make matters worse, replacement parts were often expensive and difficult to obtain, and on top of that, the units required extensive training to use,” he added.
The solution? Upgrading to Axsys Dental Solutions' milling systems, which has significantly improved Dr. Dunlop's daily milling workflow at an affordable price point. It also has made it exponentially easier to educate and train his Full Arch Masters attendees on in-house milling. Today, the education program is recognized worldwide for its diverse course offerings focusing on full-arch implant protocols—all of which are designed to elevate and enhance clinicians' implant dentistry skillsets.
“Axsys Dental Solutions' milling systems have accelerated protocols in my office and laboratory operations by making our processes more predictable and reliable,” Dr. Dunlop said. “This extends to teaching about full-mouth reconstruction, too. Now, we can mill metals and zirconia in much less time with even greater accuracy and ease of use.”
Systems & Support That Meet Every Need
Offering industry-leading dental technology, including a full line of CAD/CAM solutions and software, 3D scanners, milling machines, sintering furnaces, and a variety of premium dental tools and materials, Axsys Dental Solutions provides modern clinicians with everything they need to fabricate prostheses in-house.
“It’s clear that Axsys Dental Solutions has spent a lot of time perfecting its milling systems and strategies,” Dr. Dunlop said. “The results are remarkable; what you design in the software is very close to what you get. Milling zirconia and metals with such a high degree of precision offers a tremendous advantage, which saves time that would otherwise be spent on fine-tuning esthetics or other post-processing details and adjustments."
Additionally, all Axsys Dental Solutions' milling systems easily pair with any CAD/CAM software, with customizable CAM templates available for GO2cam or hyperDENT to mill most complex cases, including full-arch restorations. Dr. Dunlop continued to explain that using hyperDENT software enables him and his lab technicians to run the milling process as a simulation before physically milling restorations, and they can typically mill full arches in 90 minutes or less.
“Especially for dentists or lab technicians who have been recently trained to manage in-office milling projects, Axsys Dental Solutions excels at providing support on both the hardware and software sides to foster success,” he assured, adding that these turnkey milling solutions become more self-sufficient as users gain milling experience.
A ‘Bulletproof’ Restorative Approach
“Full-arch implant dentistry has relied heavily on milled metal and sintered ceramic materials for many years,” Dr. Dunlop said. “Today, we can use these 2 materials together reliably and predictably, ultimately creating what I like to call the 'bulletproof final'—a custom-milled, high-precision titanium framework that is connected to a dental implant and has a zirconia superstructure on top of it.”
The traditional workflow to create “bulletproof finals” often required 3 to 4 business days, with each component being designed and milled separately, and zirconia sintering taking 10 to 12 hours on its own, Dr. Dunlop said. In an effort to streamline this multifaceted approach, he has been working closely with Axsys Dental Solutions to develop customizable design templates and innovative techniques to simplify and expedite this process.
“Being able to condense this workflow into a 24-hour span where we can perform oral surgery in the morning, get the records by lunchtime, design and mill the case in the afternoon, and then finish by placing the patient’s permanent restoration later that day or early the next morning is remarkable,” Dr. Dunlop shared. “That is predictability, efficiency, and profitability at its finest. It improves the process for everyone involved, and it means that your patients won’t be without their permanent restoration for very long.”
Keeping Up with the Times
“In the dental world, patients want immediate results," Dr. Dunlop continued. "They come into the office with terminal dentition, and they are looking for the fastest, most reliable way to receive a permanent restoration.
"Highlighting how outsourcing restorations to a third-party laboratory is both time-consuming and labor-intensive, he concluded, “If a dentist wants to be competitive in modern implant dentistry, they must have efficient in-house manufacturing capabilities, and Axsys Dental Solutions has both the products and support to make that possible.”
