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38 I I industry report _ digital impression-taking _As the only system in the world that uses the principle of triangulation for intra-oral meas- urements, the CEREC system is setting higher standards in CAD/DAM technology with CEREC AC and the CEREC Bluecam camera. Never before have intra-oral scans been made as fast, sharp, or accurately in 3-D. Whole-jaw images broaden the indication spectrum and, with virtual models, allowthedentalofficeandthedentallaboratoryto work together impression-free. The acquisition unit of the CEREC 3D system— called CEREC AC (acquisition center)—has been equipped with a new camera (Bluecam). CEREC AC replaces the previous CEREC 3 acquisition unit; however, the new software still supports the CEREC3camera.CERECACiscompatiblewithboth milling units—CEREC 3 milling unit and CEREC MC XL (extra large). The advantages of an improved intra-oral image-capturing system do not stop at producing larger restorations chairside. The simplified inclu- sion of the adjacent teeth and the opposing jaw makesitpossibletoimprovetheocclusalandfunc- tional design, and the more exact measurement of the preparation enables an increase in the information content of the image. Furthermore, intra-orally recorded 3-D data sets of gnathic situations offer new diagnostic possibilities. The heart of CEREC AC is the Bluecam camera. Instead of infrared light, Bluecam emits short- wave blue light produced by diodes. In addition, the lens configuration is new: aspherical lenses bundle the light beam and orient it parallel to the image sensor (CCD). The light sensitivity has been increased, the image capture time shortened by 50 per cent, and the image sequence accelerated. The projection matrix still employs the tried-and- tested light-stripe grid. _Faster, sharper, blur-free As a result, the new Bluecam offers higher im- age accuracy in the clinical situation: the meas- Fig. 1_CEREC Bluecam Intra-oral Scanner. (Image: Götte) Fig. 2_Quadrant scan with prepara- tions, created from automatically joined individual images to yield a 3-D preview. (Image: Götte) CAD/CAM 1_2010 Simplified digital impression-taking Author_ Dr Helmut Götte, Germany Fig. 1 Fig. 2