SensAble Technologies, Inc. announced that its SensAble Dental Lab System is the first dental CAD/CAM system to support the design and fabrication of Valplast removable partials. A flexible nylon restoration that eliminates the need for metal clasps, Valplast partials are in high demand by dentists and patients for their comfort and aesthetics. By streamlining technique-sensitive processes required for producing flexible partials, SensAble’s system helps dental labs to deliver a better fit in less time – with partials that require less chair time for the dentist and provide a better experience for the patient. Valplast partials use a tissue-bearing technique for retention, they demand highly skilled and experienced lab technicians to design restorations with the precise set of undercuts needed to hold them in place. Instead of eyeballing their design to identify undercuts visually, SensAble’s digital survey feature shows the lab technician the location and depth of all the undercuts at the same time – allowing them to quickly design the denture for optimal retention. The SensAble Dental Lab System streamlines the often tricky steps for assuring consistent thickness in the flexible partial. Working with “digital wax,” technicians of any skill level can define the exact thickness required in specific areas of the design. They can design Valplast partials with the same digital accuracy, consistency and repeatability as with the wide range of dental restorations supported in SensAble’s system, including metal partials and full contour crown & bridge. The system’s digital precision also greatly reduces the time-consuming finishing steps such as grinding and polishing, and allows labs to deliver restorations requiring fewer adjustments and less chair time at the dentist’s office. “Creating Valplast partials has required the same 60-year old process of manually modeling in wax -- until now,” said Bill Stroh, president of Williams Dental Lab in Erie PA. Stroh, an innovator and long-time Valplast product user, developed the design and fabrication process for using the SensAble Dental Lab System to create flexible partials. “With SensAble’s system, my technicians are creating better fitting Valplast partials, and saving 30 minutes on each case. The system’s versatility is always amazing us. I've been using the SensAble system successfully for the past 18 months to make metal partial frameworks, and now I can leverage the system to make our Valplast partials as well.” “We’re excited to see labs like Williams using digital design tools to accelerate the production of Valplast flexible partial dentures,” said Justin Marks, business development manager, Valplast International Corp. “There has been no question that dental lab technology is moving in the direction of digital design and fabrication techniques and we are thrilled to see these technologies being applied to removable restorative dentistry. We’re pleased to join SensAble in providing dental labs with next-generation materials and digital processes that deliver better dentures with less working time, and more consistent results.” Valplast will exhibit flexible partials designed and fabricated using the SensAble Dental lab System at the Chicago Dental Society’s 144th Midwinter Meeting.