Perfecting The Patient Experience for 2020

Burbank Dental Lab provides a great fixed implant prosthetic option in the SmartComposite® Hybrid Prosthesis. The SmartComposite hybrid is a combination of a milled cobalt-chromium alloy and milled composite. The metal frame is nickel and beryllium free. Cobalt-chromium has very high corrosion resistance. It is a biocompatible metal that is wear-resistant and chemically inert. It has incredible mechanical properties, including increased hardness and tensile strength.  

Milled frameworks, such as those used in the SmartComposite prosthetic, have been found to fit more passively than casted frameworks. Milled frameworks eliminate the inaccuracies that the many steps involved in casting introduce. A more passive fitting framework lowers mechanical and biologic complication risk. The Co/Cr substructure can be designed to work with a multi-unit abutment or straight to the implant fixture. 

A hybrid composite overlay is designed and then milled to fit the framework. The Co/Cr frame is opaqued, etched, and then the composite is bonded to the frame. Pink composite is added to mimic tissue, and then the entire prosthesis is polished by hand. The best application of this type of fixed prosthesis is in large-segment and full-arch cases. SmartComposite requires that interocclusal distance from the implant to opposing be at least 13mm. The buccal to lingual width must be at least 9mm, and the buccal and lingual thickness from the screw access channel must be a minimum of 3mm.

It is essential to evaluate the vertical dimension of occlusion (VDO). If the adequate vertical height is not considered in the planning phase, and the VDO is opened arbitrarily to accommodate the restoration, this can cause increased forces placed in the mouth. In tooth-borne restorations that are carefully restored, the alveolar processes adapt to compensate. Edentulous patients don’t have the advantage of alveolar adaption because of implant treatments. This lack of alveolar adaption causes increased elevator muscles and ultimately increased contractive forces.