CAD CAM in restorative dentistry

During the early 20th century both dental materials and dental technologies for the fabrication of dental devices progressed remarkably. Dental applications of CAD/CAM have been available for almost 30 years and a considerable amount of in-vitro and in-vivo research has been published documenting the clinical efficacy and longevity of restorations fabricated from CAD/CAM. In the last 2 decades exciting new developments in dental materials and computer technology have resulted in the success of contemporary dental computer- aided design/ computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology. In this writeup we review the recent history of the development of dental CAD/CAM systems for the fabrication of crowns. Finally we also discuss the future perspectives applicable to dental CAD/CAM.