Panorama of dental CAD/CAM restorative systems.

In the past two decades, exciting new developments in dental materials and computer technology have led to the success of contemporary dental computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) technology. Several highly sophisticated in-office and laboratory CAD/CAM systems have been introduced or are under development. This article provides an overview of the development of various CAD/CAM systems. Operational components, methodologies, and restorative materials used with common CAD/CAM systems are discussed. Research data and clinical studies are presented to substantiate the clinical performance of these systems.