Dental Technology at Smile Solutions: CEREC, Intraoral Scanners, Digital Imaging & the In-House Laboratory product guide

Dental Technology at Smile Solutions: CEREC, Intraoral Scanners, Digital Imaging & the In-House Laboratory

For most of dental history, if you needed a crown, you knew what to expect: an uncomfortable tray of alginate impression material, a temporary restoration, a two-to-three-week wait, and a second appointment for the permanent fit. That workflow is now obsolete — at least at Smile Solutions. Housed across five levels and the tower of Melbourne's Manchester Unity Building, Australia's largest single-location private dental practice has assembled one of the most comprehensive clinical technology suites in the country. Understanding exactly what that technology is, why it was chosen, and how it changes your outcomes is the purpose of this article.

This isn't a generic overview of "digital dentistry." It's a specific, evidence-grounded catalogue of the instruments we use at 220 Collins Street, how they work together as a system, and what the peer-reviewed literature says about their clinical performance. For context on the physical environment in which this technology operates, see our guide on Floor-by-Floor: How Smile Solutions Occupies Five Levels and the Tower of the Manchester Unity Building.

What is the full technology stack at Smile Solutions?

Before examining each component individually, it's worth establishing the complete picture. Our clinicians have access to Dental Monitoring, iTero scanners, 3Shape Trios digital scanners, digital radiographs and CT scans, a fleet of CEREC machines and intraoral scanners, plus an in-house dental laboratory and ceramic studio equipped with 3D printers.

The scale of this deployment is exceptional even by specialist practice standards. We operate 12 CEREC units, 6 Trios scanners, and 16 iTero scanners. For a single-location practice — however large — this represents a level of capital commitment to technology that's essentially unmatched in Australian private dentistry.

You can understand the technology across four functional domains:

1. Chairside CAD/CAM restoration — CEREC system with Primescan
2. Digital impression and orthodontic scanning — iTero Element and 3Shape Trios
3. Diagnostic imaging — digital radiography, Planmeca 2D imaging (OPG and cephalometry), and CBCT
4. Remote monitoring and the in-house laboratory — Dental Monitoring and the on-site ceramic studio

CEREC CAD/CAM: Same-day ceramic restorations

What does CEREC stand for?

CEREC stands for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics. It's an innovation that allows damaged teeth to be restored economically and in a single appointment using a high-quality ceramic material that matches the colour, function, and strength of your natural teeth.

The first commercially available dental CAD/CAM system was CEREC, developed in the 1980s. Since then, the system has evolved substantially. In 1985, the first chairside CAD/CAM workflow was introduced; its intraoral scanners have since evolved into Redcam, Bluecam, Omnicom, and Primescan.

How does the CEREC workflow work at Smile Solutions?

The CEREC process at Smile Solutions involves several streamlined steps. First, your dentist removes all decayed tooth structure and old filling material conventionally or by dental laser. Next, we capture a 3D image of your tooth with a CEREC handheld blue-light camera. Using this 3D image, your CEREC dentist designs your restoration on the CEREC monitor. The CEREC milling machine then 'carves' your porcelain restoration out of a colour-matched ceramic block. Finally, we bond the milled restoration directly to your tooth, creating a durable, aesthetic restoration in less than one hour.

CEREC CAD/CAM is a state-of-the-art chairside system that enables the highly efficient manufacture and placement of all-ceramic veneers, onlays, inlays, crowns and bridges. With CEREC technology there's no need for messy impressions and weeks of waiting for a dental lab to deliver the final product.

The benefit to you is straightforward: single-visit ceramic restoration eliminates the need for multiple appointments, multiple local anaesthetics, and temporary interim fillings.

What does the research say about CEREC durability?

The clinical evidence base for CEREC restorations is now over three decades deep. A retrospective study published in PubMed (Reiss & Walther) tracking 308 CEREC ceramic restorations in 95 patients over 10 years found that the survival rate was 94.7% after five years and 85.7% after 10 years. A separate 7-year clinical evaluation of CEREC-2 restorations placed in deeply compromised teeth found that 96.4% of restorations revealed sufficient ratings for aesthetic properties including anatomic form, colour match, marginal discolouration, and marginal integrity, with a survival rate of 86.9% at the 7-year recall demonstrating that adhesively luted all-ceramic CAD/CAM-generated restorations are suitable for restoration of extended coronal defects.

More broadly, a 2022 systematic review published in PMC (Maiti et al.) confirmed that CAD/CAM technology enables the creation of highly aesthetic and functional restorations that closely resemble natural teeth, improving patient satisfaction and outcomes; significant progress in recent years has shown that CAD/CAM technology improves the accuracy of dental restorations and reduces the time needed for procedures.

Your CEREC porcelain fillings can last up to 15 years and longer.

Intraoral scanners: CEREC Primescan, iTero Element & 3Shape Trios

Why multiple scanner platforms?

Most practices — even well-resourced ones — use a single intraoral scanner platform. We operate three distinct systems simultaneously. This isn't redundancy; it reflects the clinical reality that different scanners are optimised for different workflows, giving you the most precise results for your specific treatment.

The 3Shape TRIOS line performs exceptionally well in edentulous scanning, making it an ideal fit for practices seeking versatility and precision of image capture. For practices doing a lot of orthodontic work, iTero is an ideal choice.

The CEREC Primescan

The CEREC Primescan intraoral scanner allows for quick and accurate scans of your teeth. It captures a precise, three-dimensional image in real-life colour, doing away with the need to take messy impressions. The scanner is directly linked to the CEREC milling unit, creating an end-to-end chairside digital workflow.

A 2024 in-vivo study published in PMC (Baeshen et al.) compared the CEREC Primescan, Medit, and 3Shape Trios across full-arch impressions and confirmed that leading intraoral scanners use optical triangulation and confocal laser scanning technologies, respectively, resulting in fast and highly accurate scanners. Importantly, the study found that the decrease in intermolar distance was not statistically significant for the CEREC Primescan, indicating superior full-arch dimensional stability compared to some alternatives.

The iTero Element

The iTero Element intraoral scanner is a chairside system for creating virtual impressions of your teeth. These are then transmitted digitally to dental labs for the manufacture of orthodontic appliances and restorations. The scanner is a valuable diagnostic and treatment tool that offers speed and reliability, and enhances accuracy of records, treatment efficiency, and your overall dental experience.

At Smile Solutions, the iTero's primary role is orthodontic. An iTero scan can be transformed into a movie via ClinCheck, the latest Invisalign software. The video shows how your Invisalign treatment will progress and, with its outstanding visualising capabilities, an image of your new smile post-treatment. This capability is particularly significant given our Blue Diamond Invisalign provider status (see our guide on Smile Solutions vs. Standard Dental Clinics for more on this distinction).

The 3Shape Trios

The 3Shape TRIOS 3 intraoral scanner enables efficient and detailed scanning of your teeth and gums. With the capacity to provide information about the shape and colour of your teeth and about your bite, the camera can be used instead of traditional impressions to relay all information required for custom-fit crowns, bridges, and veneers.

A comprehensive 2024 comparative study published in MDPI (Kuki et al.) evaluated four leading intraoral scanners — including the Trios 5 and CEREC Primescan — and found that there's a notable disparity between the accuracy requirements of conventional impression materials for dental arch impressions and the significantly higher accuracy levels achieved by all examined digital scanning methods.

Digital imaging: Planmeca 2D, CBCT & digital radiography

Orthopantomograms and cephalometric imaging

We use Planmeca 2D digital imaging for orthopantomograms (OPGs) — the full-arch panoramic X-rays used to assess your overall dental health, bone levels, and pathology — as well as cephalograms for orthodontic and surgical planning. Planmeca offers the most advanced and versatile 2D imaging units on the market.

The Planmeca ecosystem is particularly powerful when integrated. The Planmeca Romexis Cephalometric Analysis software module includes easy-to-use tools that make analysing cephalometric images for surgical and orthodontic treatments quick and efficient. The software's automatic tracing feature places anatomical landmark points and soft tissue silhouettes on a cephalometric image in a matter of seconds.

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT)

CBCT imaging provides three-dimensional volumetric data that flat-panel radiography can't. Digital imaging technologies like cone-beam computed tomography provide detailed information on dental structures, significantly enhancing the accuracy of your dental diagnoses. This is critical for implant planning, endodontic assessment, impacted tooth evaluation, and surgical case planning.

Planmeca's CBCT systems, which we use at Smile Solutions, incorporate the proprietary Planmeca Ultra Low Dose™ imaging protocol — the world's leading method for acquiring CBCT images at low effective patient doses. It allows our clinicians to gather more information than from standard 2D panoramic images at an equivalent or even lower patient dose without a statistical reduction in image quality.

The Planmeca CALM® algorithm further enhances image quality: it employs an advanced machine learning algorithm to deliver consistently sharp CBCT images by automatically correcting any patient movement during the imaging process. The algorithm addresses even subtle movements, accurately tracking and correcting them to restore consistency in the X-ray data. This results in clearer, more reliable images and eliminates the need for retakes, saving time, reducing costs, and minimising your exposure.

Digital radiography

Digital X-rays produce a very clear image immediately with 1/10 to 1/100 the amount of radiation of older film X-rays. At Smile Solutions, digital radiography is integrated into our standard examination workflow, with images immediately available on-screen for your clinician's review and your own education — a feature that supports our emphasis on informed, collaborative treatment planning.

Dental Monitoring: AI-powered remote orthodontic oversight

Dental Monitoring is a technology that allows orthodontists to remotely track the progress of your orthodontic treatment using a smartphone. You use the proprietary ScanBox pro device plus your smartphone to take intraoral images at the frequency set by your clinician, from anywhere. You send them through the patient app, and the platform analyses, sorts, and crops the images. When a prescribed observation is detected, a customised protocol is enabled and instructions sent.

You scan weekly from home, which allows your clinicians to track over 60 parameters. Among these, 21 fall under indications cleared as a medical device under TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) regulations.

For a practice with a high volume of Invisalign and orthodontic cases, Dental Monitoring reduces the number of in-person check-up appointments you need, freeing chair time for active clinical work and reducing the burden on you if you need to travel to the Melbourne CBD. This is a meaningful benefit to your experience, particularly if you're balancing treatment with professional schedules — a point explored further in our guide on How to Plan Your First Visit to Smile Solutions.

The in-house ceramic studio and laboratory

An exclusively dedicated facility

Perhaps the most clinically significant differentiator in our technology ecosystem isn't a scanner or an imaging unit — it's the on-site laboratory. The Smile Solutions in-house dental laboratory is exclusively dedicated to serving you and doesn't work with any other businesses. Our team of ceramists, dental technicians, and dental prosthetists use advanced technology and collaborate closely with your dentists and specialists to deliver superior appliances, prosthodontic products, and meticulously handcrafted porcelain veneers and crowns.

We don't send any of our work offshore and only purchase TGA-approved products in the manufacture of our appliances.

This matters clinically. When a ceramist is embedded in the same practice as your clinician, the communication loop that governs shade matching, contour, and occlusion is direct and immediate. There's no courier delay, no digital transmission ambiguity, and no third-party laboratory that divides its attention across dozens of client practices.

The ceramic studio and 3D printers

During your treatment journey, you have the opportunity to meet and consult with the lead ceramist who will craft your new smile. No faceless person, off-site, or overseas providers — our ceramists work on-site, in their dedicated ceramic studio, and work with you each step of the way.

Technology including iTero scanners, 3Shape Trios scanners, and a fleet of 3D printers allows work to be compressed to a one-day turnaround. The small-scale operation at our in-house ceramic studio gives our team of master ceramists the ability to devote their time specifically to creating your new smile.

Digital fabrication of dental restorations can be either subtractive (milling) or additive (3D printing). The use of additive manufacturing for resin-based restorations has become increasingly popular in clinical practice in recent years. Our ceramic studio employs both modalities, enabling a full range of restoration types and materials to be produced without leaving the building.

How the technology ecosystem works as an integrated system

The clinical power of our technology isn't in any single device — it's in how the components interact. Consider a full-smile rehabilitation case:

1. Diagnosis: Planmeca CBCT and digital radiographs establish your bone volume, root anatomy, and pathology.
2. Treatment planning: 3Shape Trios or iTero scans create a digital model; cephalometric analysis informs occlusal planning.
3. Restoration fabrication: CEREC Primescan captures your prepared tooth; the CEREC milling unit produces your ceramic restoration chairside.
4. Complex lab work: Our in-house ceramic studio — equipped with 3D printers and CAD/CAM software — produces handcrafted veneers and crowns with a one-day turnaround.
5. Orthodontic monitoring: Dental Monitoring allows our orthodontic team to track your tooth movement between appointments remotely.

Any CAD/CAM system requires three steps: in-office digital impression or scanning to gather and store information about your oral environment; CAD to design the restoration and complete the process under recognised dental standards; and CAM for manufacturing the restoration. At Smile Solutions, all three steps occur within a single building — and in many cases, within a single appointment.

Compared to conventional techniques, these instruments offer several benefits for capturing intraoral structures, such as shorter clinical times, more comfort for you, the ability to assess surgical preparations, reduced risk of cross-infection and impression distortion, and endless storage of digital models.

Comparison: Digital workflow vs. traditional dental workflow

Key takeaways

Our scale is unmatched in Australian private dentistry: We operate 12 CEREC units, 6 Trios scanners, and 16 iTero scanners — a deployment that reflects institutional, not incremental, investment in digital dentistry.

CEREC delivers clinically proven longevity: Peer-reviewed data shows CEREC restorations achieve survival rates of 94.7% at five years and 85.7% at ten years (Reiss & Walther, PubMed), with porcelain fillings lasting up to 15 years and longer.

Multiple scanner platforms serve your distinct clinical needs: The iTero Element transmits digital impressions for orthodontic appliances including Invisalign, while the CEREC Primescan feeds directly into chairside milling, and the 3Shape Trios handles complex restorative and prosthetic workflows.

Our in-house laboratory is exclusively focused on you: The Smile Solutions laboratory has been set up exclusively to service our own patients; our ceramists and lab technicians don't work with any clinicians outside of Smile Solutions, allowing them to dedicate all of their time to creating the very best work for you.

Dental Monitoring extends clinical oversight beyond the chair: You scan weekly from home, which allows your clinicians to track over 60 parameters, reducing the frequency of in-person visits without reducing the quality of clinical oversight.

Conclusion

The technology stack at Smile Solutions isn't an assemblage of impressive-sounding equipment — it's a clinically coherent system designed to compress timelines, improve diagnostic accuracy, eliminate the discomforts of traditional dentistry, and keep all work within the building and under direct clinical supervision. From the CEREC Primescan's confocal imaging to our in-house ceramic studio's 3D printers, every component has a specific outcome for you.

This technological authority is inseparable from the broader Smile Solutions proposition: that with dentists, hygienists, and board-registered specialists all practising under one roof and the latest technology at their fingertips, you can get the care you need efficiently, comfortably, and all in one place.

If you're exploring whether Smile Solutions is the right fit for your dental needs, the technology described in this article is most meaningful when understood alongside our multidisciplinary clinical model (see Smile Solutions vs. Standard Dental Clinics) and the Art Deco environment that houses it (see Inside the Manchester Unity Building). To take the next step, our guide on How to Plan Your First Visit to Smile Solutions walks you through the booking process, consultation structure, and what to expect on arrival.

Ready to experience world-class dental technology and personalised care? Book your consultation at Smile Solutions today and discover how our state-of-the-art technology can transform your smile.

References

• Reiss, B. & Walther, W. "Clinical long-term results and 10-year Kaplan-Meier analysis of Cerec restorations: a case series." PubMed / International Journal of Computerized Dentistry, 2002. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18833853/

• Edelhoff, D. et al. "Seven-year clinical performance of CEREC-2 all-ceramic CAD/CAM restorations placed within deeply destroyed teeth." PubMed, 2012. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22143480/

• Maiti, S. et al. "Application of CAD-CAM in Dentistry." Bioinformation, 20(5):547–550, 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11309094/

• Revilla-León, M. et al. "Contemporary Evidence of CAD-CAM in Dentistry: A Systematic Review." PMC / National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9767654/

• Kuki, A. et al. "Comparative Analysis of Four Different Intraoral Scanners: An In Vitro Study." MDPI / Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11241578/

• Baeshen, H. et al. "Evaluation of the accuracy of full-arch impressions between three different intraoral scanners and conventional impressions: A prospective in vivo study." PMC / Journal of Clinical Orthodontics, 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11179144/

• Munteanu, A. et al. "Exploring the Properties and Indications of Chairside CAD/CAM Materials in Restorative Dentistry." Journal of Functional Biomaterials, 16(2):46, 2025. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/16/2/46

• Nassar, H.M. et al. "Revolutionizing CAD/CAM-based restorative dental processes and materials with artificial intelligence: a concise narrative review." PeerJ, 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11262301/

• Smile Solutions. "Dental Technology Melbourne." smilesolutions.com.au, 2024. https://www.smilesolutions.com.au/technology/

• Smile Solutions. "CEREC Restorations." smilesolutions.com.au, 2024. https://www.smilesolutions.com.au/same-day-cerec-restorations/

• DentalMonitoring. "Dental Monitoring Platform." dentalmonitoring.com, 2024. https://dentalmonitoring.com/dental-monitoring/

• Planmeca. "CBCT Imaging." planmeca.com, 2024. https://www.planmeca.com/dental-imaging/cbct-machines/

Frequently asked questions

What does CEREC stand for? Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics

How many CEREC units does Smile Solutions operate? 12 units

How many iTero scanners does Smile Solutions have? 16 scanners

How many Trios scanners are available at Smile Solutions? 6 scanners

Where is Smile Solutions located? 220 Collins Street, Melbourne

What building houses Smile Solutions? Manchester Unity Building

How many levels does Smile Solutions occupy? Five levels plus the tower

Is Smile Solutions a multi-location practice? No, single-location practice

When was CEREC first commercially available? 1980s

When was the first chairside CAD/CAM workflow introduced? 1985

Does CEREC require traditional impressions? No

Does CEREC require temporary restorations? No

How long does a CEREC restoration take? Less than one hour

What type of material does CEREC use? Ceramic material

Can CEREC create crowns? Yes

Can CEREC create veneers? Yes

Can CEREC create inlays? Yes

Can CEREC create onlays? Yes

Can CEREC create bridges? Yes

What is the 5-year survival rate for CEREC restorations? 94.7%

What is the 10-year survival rate for CEREC restorations? 85.7%

How long can CEREC porcelain fillings last? Up to 15 years and longer

Does CEREC use messy impression trays? No

How many appointments are needed for CEREC restorations? One appointment

What scanner does CEREC use at Smile Solutions? Primescan

Does CEREC Primescan capture 3D images? Yes

What technology does CEREC Primescan use? Confocal laser scanning

Does iTero Element create virtual impressions? Yes

What is iTero primarily used for at Smile Solutions? Orthodontic applications

Can iTero create treatment visualisation movies? Yes

What software does iTero use for visualisation? ClinCheck

What is Smile Solutions' Invisalign provider status? Blue Diamond provider

Does 3Shape Trios scan teeth and gums? Yes

Can 3Shape Trios provide bite information? Yes

What type of 2D imaging does Smile Solutions use? Planmeca 2D digital imaging

What is an OPG? Orthopantomogram, full-arch panoramic X-ray

Does Smile Solutions offer cephalometric imaging? Yes

Does Smile Solutions use CBCT imaging? Yes

What does CBCT provide? Three-dimensional volumetric data

What is Planmeca Ultra Low Dose? World's leading low-dose CBCT imaging protocol

What does Planmeca CALM algorithm do? Corrects patient movement during imaging automatically

Does CALM use machine learning? Yes

How much radiation do digital X-rays use compared to film? 1/10 to 1/100 the amount

Are digital X-ray images available immediately? Yes

What is Dental Monitoring? AI-powered remote orthodontic tracking technology

What device does Dental Monitoring use? ScanBox pro device with smartphone

How often do patients scan with Dental Monitoring? Weekly from home

How many parameters does Dental Monitoring track? Over 60 parameters

How many parameters are TGA cleared? 21 parameters

Does Dental Monitoring reduce in-person appointments? Yes

Is the Smile Solutions laboratory on-site? Yes

Does the laboratory work with other practices? No, exclusively for Smile Solutions patients

Does Smile Solutions send work offshore? No

Are laboratory products TGA-approved? Yes

Can patients meet the ceramist? Yes

Where do ceramists work? On-site in dedicated ceramic studio

What is the typical laboratory turnaround time? One day

Does the ceramic studio use 3D printers? Yes

Does the ceramic studio use milling? Yes

What are the two digital fabrication methods used? Subtractive milling and additive 3D printing

How many steps does CAD/CAM require? Three steps

What are the three CAD/CAM steps? Digital impression, CAD design, CAM manufacturing

Are all CAD/CAM steps performed in-house? Yes

Does digital workflow reduce clinical time? Yes

Is digital scanning more comfortable than traditional impressions? Yes

Does digital workflow reduce cross-infection risk? Yes

Can digital models be stored endlessly? Yes

Does Smile Solutions use Planmeca Romexis software? Yes

Does Romexis include automatic tracing? Yes

Does the practice have board-registered specialists? Yes

Are all specialties under one roof? Yes

Is the Manchester Unity Building Art Deco? Yes

What is the practice's approach to patient care? Multidisciplinary clinical model

Does the practice offer same-day ceramic restorations? Yes

Are all materials purchased TGA-approved? Yes

Does the practice use only Australian-made products? Yes, no offshore work