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What does a traditional analog full-arch restoration workflow look like, and why is it inefficient?

The traditional analog workflow is a sequential, multi-appointment process. It begins with a stock-tray primary impression of the patient's initial condition, from which the laboratory fabricates a custom open secondary impression tray (historically shellac or acrylic, now often produced digitally). The clinician then takes a secondary impression, often with a wax rim, to record implant positions, vertical dimension, occlusion, midline, smile line, and the planned tooth position.

The laboratory pours a master model and fabricates a verification jig to confirm implant positional accuracy before investing in expensive framework materials. The jig is evaluated alongside a wax try-in, the case returns to the lab for digitization or casting, and the framework with teeth set in wax is tried in again before the final restoration is processed and delivered.

Stage Appointment What happens
Primary impression 1 Stock-tray impression of the initial condition
Custom tray fabrication Lab Lab builds a custom open secondary tray (shellac, acrylic, or digital)
Secondary impression 2 Open impression, often with a wax rim, recording implant positions, VDO, occlusion, midline, smile line, and tooth position
Master model + verification jig Lab Lab pours the master model and fabricates a verification jig
Jig + wax try-in 3 (sometimes 4) Verify implant positional accuracy and confirm occlusion, VDO, and esthetics
Framework + teeth-in-wax try-in 4–5 Try in the framework with teeth in wax to verify fit and esthetics
Final processing + delivery 5–6 Final restoration processed and delivered

Cumulatively, this can extend to five or six appointments and roughly five hours of chairside time per arch, with repeated shipments between the practice and the laboratory and multiple opportunities for adjustment. Measured against what digital tools now make possible, that is a relatively inefficient use of the clinician's most valuable resource: chair time.

 

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