Q: Once you have inserted a case and it's permanently cemented, what do you do with the lab work?
A: There are legal requirements pertaining to maintaining models. You need to check with your state board of dentistry as to what the requirements are for your state. I believe in many states the requirement is two years. This is not the requirement for orthodontic models, which I believe is much longer.
If space is an issue, there are companies that can scan your models and then they store the data. If models are then needed for any reason, they can be constructed from the digital data.
Another way to store the information is with digital photography of the models. Make sure you take high-resolution images from different angles and in occlusion. However, depending on state dental board requirements, these images may not always be used in place of the actual models.
In the future, with the concept of "crowns in a box," there may not be any models available, just the digital scans. So we are in a transition period, and, as is often the case, the rules and regulations don't always keep up with technology.
Martin Jablow, D.M.D., is a practicing dentist and a self-professed technophile who lectures and blogs on a variety of technologies used in dentistry (dentechblog.blogspot.com). If you have a technology question for Dr. Jablow, e-mail it to us at [email protected].
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