IPS Empress CAD: the next era for CEREC dentistry

Ivoclar Vivadent recently invited 40 CEREC instructors from Europe and Asia to take part in a special meeting at their headquarters in Liechtenstein. Apart from the tremendous advances in both the hardware and software technologies in Sirona's CEREC to date, Ivoclar Vivadent has been partnering the CEREC system for 10 years and believes the next era for the system will instead come from new materials.

The meeting, therefore, sought to ensure these 40 key opinion leaders were fully au fait with the latest IPS Empress® CAD, IPS e.max® CAD LT blocks from which all-ceramic restorations can be milled with the CEREC® unit.

The first day was dedicated to the presentation of the material and the system from Ivoclar Vivadent for CEREC users. Josef Richter, Sales and Distribution Corporate Manager, opened the meeting by announcing that he and his colleagues would be introducing not just one product, but an entire system.

With the invention of IPS Empress, Ivoclar Vivadent pioneered the development of all-ceramics and set new standards in aesthetics more than 17 years ago he explained. Since then, more than 33 million restorations have been fabricated with IPS Empress.

Mr Richter spoke about the new possibilities that have been opening up as a result of the new techniques offered by CAD/CAM. To keep abreast of these developments and satisfy customer requirements, the company has added a new allceramic product for fabricating highly aesthetic anatomic single tooth restorations to the proven IPS Empress System. The material, which is based on IPS Empress Esthetic, is machinable.

The dentists were delighted with the product properties of IPS Empress CAD and IPS e.max CAD LT. A great deal of interest was shown in the IPS Empress Multi Block, which was also introduced on this occasion. Apart from the new IPS Empress CAD and IPS e.max CAD LT, the in-house specialists presented time-tested cementation materials and the accessories from the Optra product line.

To conclude the meeting, Prof. Dr Werner Mörmann, the "inventor" of the CEREC system presented several interesting cases, in which he had used IPS Empress CAD.