Technology & Laboratory

Dental technology supports three steps of treatment. X-rays and scans record what an examination alone cannot show. Planning software and computer-aided design turn those records into a plan and a restoration. A dental laboratory then makes crowns, bridges, veneers and dentures to the dentist's prescription, and some clinics mill some restorations themselves.

Each of these tools has limits, and none of them replaces the dentist's examination and judgement. This page summarises our six technology pages and links to each one. Study findings quoted here come from published research, not from our own records. On this page, "we" and "our clinic" mean our clinic in Antalya, Turkey. Which of these technologies is used for your treatment, and where, is something to ask the clinic before you decide. Our materials page explains the materials that crowns, bridges, veneers and dentures are made from.

• Diagnostic imaging (X-rays, CBCT). What it is for: showing teeth, roots and bone that an examination cannot see. One main limit: each image has to be justified for you; a CBCT scan usually gives a higher dose.
• Digital scanning. What it is for: recording the surfaces of the teeth and gums as a 3D model, without an impression tray. One main limit: edges under the gum are hard to capture, and blood can hide them.
• Digital treatment planning. What it is for: planning implant positions and other treatment on a 3D model. One main limit: a plan is a proposal; implants do not end up exactly where planned.
• CAD/CAM. What it is for: designing restorations on a computer, then milling or 3D-printing them. One main limit: CAD/CAM ceramic restorations have not been shown to last longer than conventionally made ones.
• Dental laboratory. What it is for: making crowns, bridges, veneers and dentures to the dentist's prescription. One main limit: a model is not your mouth: the fit and bite are checked at the try-in.
• Digital smile design. What it is for: showing how new front teeth might look. One main limit: a simulation, not a promise of the result.

Dental X-rays help diagnose problems an examination alone can miss. Examples are decay, gum disease that has reached the bone, and infection at the tip of a root¹. Intraoral and panoramic X-rays are two-dimensional (2D). A cone beam CT (CBCT) scan shows the teeth and jaws in three dimensions. It is for questions a 2D X-ray cannot answer, such as some implant, wisdom tooth or root canal cases.

The UK guidance on choosing dental X-rays is Selection Criteria for Dental Radiography (2018), now published by the College of General Dentistry. It says each image should be chosen for you, after your history has been taken and you have been examined¹. The main limits are radiation and detail. According to European guidelines on dental CBCT (2012), CBCT doses are generally higher than those of intraoral and panoramic X-rays². They also vary widely between machines. Metal crowns, posts and fillings can cause streaks on a CBCT scan, called artefacts¹. An image never replaces an examination.

Our diagnostic imaging page explains each type of image, when CBCT may be justified, radiation doses and X-rays in pregnancy.

An intraoral scan records your teeth and gums as a 3D model on a computer. A small handheld scanner projects light onto the teeth and gums³; it does not use X-rays. It replaces the tray of setting material used for a conventional impression, and the model can be sent to the dental laboratory electronically³. A 2021 systematic review of clinical studies found scanning overall faster than conventional impressions⁴, and patients generally preferred it. Neither finding held in every study.

The main limit is that a scanner records only what it can see. Edges of a prepared tooth that lie under the gum are hard to capture, and blood may hide the edges³. Scans are not more accurate than impressions in every case, for example in some full-arch work on implants (see "Technology limitations and clinical judgement" below).

Our digital scanning page explains how a scan is taken and checked, its accuracy limits and your scan files.

Digital treatment planning means planning treatment on a computer, on a 3D model built from your records. For implants, a scan of the teeth and gums can be combined with a CBCT scan³ of the bone. The dentist then plans where each implant should go. The plan can be carried into surgery with a 3D-printed guide or a navigation system. Or the dentist places the implants freehand, using the plan as a reference.

A 2025 review of 13 systematic reviews compared guided methods, taken together, with freehand placement. Guided placement ended up closer to the plan, but implant survival and bone loss around the implants were comparable⁵. The main limit is that a plan is a proposal. Implants do not end up exactly where they were planned, and the plan may change at the examination or during surgery. Our digital treatment planning page explains guides, navigation, accuracy and plan changes.

Scans can also be used for digital smile design³, together with photographs of your face and smile, to plan how new front teeth might look. The plan is shown on a screen as a simulation, not a promise of the result. Our digital smile design page explains what such a preview can and cannot show.

CAD/CAM stands for computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing. A crown, inlay, onlay, veneer, bridge or denture is designed on a computer and then made by a machine. A 2014 review describes two ways of working⁶: milling the restoration from a solid block, or building it up in thin layers (3D printing). The design usually starts from an intraoral scan. A dental technician or the dentist checks the scan, the design and the finished restoration, and the dentist checks the fit in your mouth. Design and manufacture can happen in a dental laboratory or, where a clinic has the equipment, at the clinic itself (chairside). In suitable cases, a crown milled at the chair can be fitted in one appointment.

The main limit is that CAD/CAM ceramic restorations have not been shown to last longer than conventionally made ones. A 2019 review of 14 clinical studies found more failures with CAD/CAM ceramic restorations than with conventionally made ones⁷. The difference was statistically significant. The CAD/CAM restorations in that review included ones milled in laboratories, and its search ended in 2017.

Our CAD/CAM page explains design, milling, 3D printing, material choice and checks.

A dental laboratory makes the parts of your treatment that are made to measure outside the mouth, such as crowns, bridges, veneers and dentures. In the UK, General Dental Council (GDC) guidance says dental technicians construct custom-made dental devices to the prescription of a dentist⁸ or clinical dental technician. Their usual tasks include verifying and taking responsibility for the quality and safety⁸ of devices leaving a dental laboratory. That guidance is written for dental professionals registered in the UK. Under Turkey's medical device regulation, the maker of a custom-made device draws up a statement before placing the device on the market⁹. The device is accompanied by that statement⁹, so ask for a copy.

The main limit is that a model is not your mouth. The fit, the bite and the look of front teeth can only be fully judged in your mouth, at the try-in. Some clinics have their own laboratory; others send the work to an outside one. Ask which applies to you.

Our dental laboratory page explains the prescription, shade matching, checks, remakes and who is responsible for what.

Technology supports the dentist's examination and judgement; it does not replace them. Whether you need treatment, and which treatment, is decided from your history, an examination and a discussion with the dentist.

• Imaging. Guidance does not call for a CBCT scan before every implant. The 2012 European guidelines say the primary question is whether or not cross-sectional (3D) imaging is required for implant planning².
• Scans. For full-arch bridges on more than four implants, a 2025 review found conventional impressions slightly more accurate than digital methods taken together¹⁰. The digital methods were intraoral scans and photogrammetry, a camera-based method. Intraoral scanners on their own did not differ from conventional impressions¹⁰. Most of the studies in that review were laboratory studies.
• Guided surgery. The 2018 consensus report of the International Team for Implantology (ITI) looked at surgery with a printed guide (static guided surgery). It sees such surgery as an additional tool¹¹. It concluded that it cannot be stated¹¹ that it is better than surgery without a guide for pain and discomfort, costs or complications during surgery.
• Same-day crowns. The reviews we cite did not assess same-day (chairside) work separately⁷, so they cannot tell us whether same-day crowns last as long¹² as laboratory-made ones.

None of these tools removes the risks of treatment. You can ask why each one is proposed for you.

Before treatment, ask in writing:

• which X-rays, scans and digital plans are proposed for you, and why;
• where your imaging, scanning, design and manufacture are done;
• who reports your scans, checks your plan, and makes and checks your restorations;
• how your images, scans and plans are stored, who can see them, and for how long;
• what the written terms say if a restoration does not fit or fails, including after you are home.

Bring home for your UK dentist copies of your X-rays and scan files, in a format they can open. For a CBCT scan, that means the data files with a viewer, and the report. Add a summary of your plan and a written record of each restoration: material, product, shade and laboratory. For implants, add the system, part and lot numbers.

Aftercare. Problems after you return are usually first seen by your own dentist in the UK, who will need these records. If you do not have one, it helps to find one before you travel. The GDC suggests speaking to your own dentist¹³ before you consider treatment abroad. The NHS website for England says the NHS is not liable for negligence or failure of treatment¹⁴ abroad. It also says most travel insurance policies will not cover you for planned treatment abroad¹⁴. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own health services, with their own rules, which this page does not cover; if you live there, ask your dentist.

Your choice. Dentists in the UK also use these technologies, and a UK opinion gives you something to compare. You can say no, or ask to stop, at any stage; once a tooth has been prepared, that step cannot be undone.

Our dental implants page lists the questions the GDC and the NHS suggest you ask before treatment abroad.