When it comes to helping edentulous patients, exocad’s Claudio Mattina is the master. For more than 30 years, Claudio made it his primary work to create high-quality restorations for toothless patients because being able to laugh, smile, and chew with ease is a massive life quality improvement. As a master dental technician, Claudio drew from his knowledge in the field to create the InspiraTM Denture Tooth Library, a new denture tooth library designed by exocad specifically for digital workflows. Claudio explains the thought process behind developing exocad’s InspiraTM Denture Tooth Library and what makes it unique.
Q: Hi Claudio, how did you get your start at exocad?
A: I was working at my own laboratory that mainly handled edentulous patients and exocad’s CCO Novica Savic called me and said, “Come work with us.” exocad wanted to plan and advance the tooth libraries. So, I said yes.
Q: What was the motivation behind creating the InspiraTM Denture Tooth Library?
A: Most prosthetic tooth libraries from external manufacturers are developed for analog applications, which makes sense from an analog point of view. But when it comes to the digital workflow, these shapes are not always ideal. I wanted to optimize the tooth shapes (occlusion) for purely digital workflows and older patients (+50 GERO).
Q: What’s included in the InspiraTM library?
A: To simplify the prosthetic setup, InspiraTM contains 12 sets of anterior and four sets of posterior arrangements, including multicuspid, crossbite, lingualised, and Gerber S. The library also includes 15 presets to ensure functionality and esthetics and save significant time in the selection and fitting process.
Q: What are the differences between the InspiraTM Denture Tooth Library and those from external manufacturers and suppliers?
A: The morphology of the new exocad InspiraTM Denture Tooth Library has a different type of occlusion. The occlusal surfaces have been made flatter to create better interlocking of the upper and lower jaws especially for older patients. There is less to almost no dynamic interfering contact, which would otherwise have to be manually removed or ground in and adjusted after completion. This flatter occlusion design means that medium-value articulation movements are largely possible without interfering contacts. We also provide many presets, so that different bite situations can be implemented quickly. The shape of the tooth neck areas, which are responsible for the gingival pockets in the denture base, has also been completely revised and optimized for milling applications of the denture bases. The lengths of these areas were modified/optimized for the alveolar ridge situation in the upper and lower jaw.
Q: This library is scalable. Can you explain the benefit of that?
A: Fully scalable digital denture teeth offer several benefits that enhance both the fabrication process and the patient experience. The ability to scale digital models means that each denture can be customized to the exact specifications required for individual patients, improving comfort and functionality. Also, this ensures consistent quality across multiple sets of dentures because the same accurate digital model can be reproduced without variation. If a denture is lost or damaged, an identical replacement can be quickly produced from the saved digital file.
Claudio Mattina is a master dental technician who has worked in management positions, laboratory management and as a course instructor at various training events. Claudio had his own dental laboratory specializing in the complete restoration of mostly edentulous patients. For almost 20 years, he was significantly involved in, contributed to, and co-developed many successful tooth lines as an external consultant in a team of experts for a large German tooth manufacturer. This gave him a feeling for the wishes and needs for tooth shapes on the market. He has been working for exocad since 2018 and brings his experience to the digital field. His area of responsibility includes the integration of prefabricated teeth into the software. All teeth integrated into the exocad software to date have passed through Claudio’s hands.
by Caitlan Reeg
Writer at exocad
Caitlan Reeg spends her days telling the world about the innovations her colleagues create. She’s passionate about healthcare, technology, and the ways the two interact to improve our lives. A former journalist, Caitlan has worked on staff at Dow Jones Newswires in Frankfurt and at the national public radio program Marketplace in Los Angeles.
