Heraeus Kulzer presents Pala Mix & Match DS - Manufacture goes digital

With innovative developments, Heraeus Kulzer continues to promote the connection of classic and digital prosthetics. Under the new brand "Pala® Mix & Match DS" (Digital Sets) the tried-and-tested system for manufactured denture teeth will boast interfaces to CAD/CAM fabrication starting September. This means even more efficiency and precision in daily laboratory practice.

Up to now, anyone who fabricated restorations with digital support could only adjust denture teeth manually. At this year's IDS Heraeus Kulzer is the first manufacturer to present denture teeth for CAD/CAM fabrication, with its Pala Mix & Match DS. The Amann Girrbach Ceramill Full Denture System allows to adjust denture teeth from the basal side to the individual patient's situation for the first time in digital dental technology.

And this is how it works: the dentist passes the patient status as classic bite registration to the laboratory where a functional model is produced and placed in the articulator. The dental technician records the status with an optical 3D scanner. The full denture is designed with the Amann Girrbach Ceramill D-Flow software. Based on a prior model analysis it suggests the suitable dental teeth from the Heraeus Kulzer Pala Mix & Match System for denture teeths' digital setting up. From September 2015 on, Pala teeth will be stored as datasets exclusively in the Ceramill D-Flow software and will then be available as tooth blanks for the Ceramill Motion 2 (5X). Depending on their needs, users get access to the most common full denture options from the Pala tooth lines Premium 6, Mondial 6, Mondial 8 and Idealis 8.

After the automated basal adjustment of the denture teeth to the alveolar ridge, the user receives a gingival design suggestion which can be customized as required. The software then emits the milling data for the upper and lower jaw base including the tooth sockets which are milled water-cooled from a gingiva-colored wax blank with the Ceramill Motion 2 (5X). The Pala Mix & Match denture teeth, supplied as blanks with a retaining frame, are basally milled using a further dataset. The dental technician then manually inserts the patient's individually milled teeth into the tooth sockets in the wax bases, secures them with wax and checks the dentures in the articulator. The try-in at the dentist's and the finishing of the denture teeth are done using the classic way.

Integrated workflow for optimal results

Today, users must optimally combine digital and analogue procedures, to ensure ideal dental provision. In cooperation with Amann Girrbach AG, Heraeus Kulzer promotes this material-based approach. "CAD/CAM fabrication of Pala denture teeth constitutes an important milestone which makes full digital dentures economically viable for dental laboratories for the very first time", comments Karl-Heinz Renz, Group Product Manager Removable Prosthetics at Heraeus Kulzer. "Additionally, with Pala Mix & Match DS dental technicians create reproducible, ultra-precise denture solutions."

About Heraeus Kulzer

Heraeus Kulzer GmbH is one of the world's leading dental companies with its headquarters in Hanau, Germany. As a trusted partner, the company supplies dentists and dental technicians with an extensive product range, covering cosmetic dentistry, tooth preservation, prosthetics, periodontology and digital dentistry. More than 1,400 employees at 25 locations worldwide are driven by their expertise and passion for the dental market and embody what the name Heraeus Kulzer stands for: service, quality and innovation. In 2013 Heraeus Kulzer's product turnover exceeded 400 million USD.

Heraeus Kulzer has been part of the Japanese Mitsui Chemicals Group since July 2013. Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (MCI) is based in Tokyo, and has 134 affiliates with more than 14,700 employees in 27 countries worldwide. Its innovative, practical chemical products are as much in demand in the automotive, electronics and packaging industries as they are in other fields such as environmental protection and healthcare.