Dental Mills: How to Choose.

A dental mill cuts a crown, bridge, or other restoration from a block or a disc. It does not take the impression. The intraoral scanner guide is that step. A mill also does not print a model. The 3D printer guide is the other machine offices confuse with it.

How to choose a dental mill

• Blocks or discs. A chairside mill usually cuts a ceramic block for one or a few units while the patient is there. A lab mill cuts discs and a wider set of materials, and the restoration comes back later. Buy the one that matches the work you will actually finish in the office.
• Wet, dry, or both. Glass ceramic is commonly milled wet. Zirconia is commonly milled dry and then sintered. A mill that does only one of those cannot be talked into the other with a different bur.
• Whose software sends the job. Some mills only accept cases from their own scanner and design software. Some accept an open file. The scanner you already own decides which mill is a second step and which mill is a locked set.
• Burs, blanks, and who changes them. The mill is down when the burs are dull or the blank you need is not on the shelf. The quote should say which materials it is cleared to cut and who stocks those blanks.
• Chairside time versus a lab bill. A chairside mill pays off when the office finishes enough units in one visit to cover the burs, the blanks, and the time. A mill that sits idle is a more expensive lab.

How common mills differ

Treat the table as product differences, not a score. The material you mill most is the column that matters.

CEREC MC XL

The MC XL is the chairside mill in the CEREC system from Dentsply Sirona. It cuts blocks, wet, for the restorations that workflow is built around. Buy it when the office is already in CEREC and wants the same-day unit. Do not buy it as a general lab mill for discs and zirconia. The scanner and the design software are the other half of the purchase.

PlanMill 30S

PlanMill 30S is Planmeca’s chairside mill, meant to sit with Planmeca’s scanners. The same warning as CEREC applies: the mill is the second machine in a system. If the office scans with something else, confirm the file can actually be milled before the PlanMill is the assumption on the quote.

PrograMill PM7

The PM7 is Ivoclar’s lab mill, not a single-visit block mill beside the chair. It belongs where someone is milling through the day and the material menu is the point, including Ivoclar’s own materials. An office that sends most crowns to a lab does not need this machine in the sterilization room.

Ceramill Mikro

Ceramill Mikro is the compact mill in Amann Girrbach’s Ceramill system. The useful question is which indications this size is cleared for, because Amann Girrbach also sells larger mills. A compact mill that cannot cut the material you do most is the wrong size of the right brand.

Roland DWX-4W

The DWX-4W is Roland’s wet dental mill, used for glass-ceramic blocks and for offices that do not want the mill locked to one scanner company. Ask for the material list and for how files get from your scanner to this mill. Wet milling is a water and filter job, not only a software job.

Related guides

• CAD/CAM and lab
• Intraoral scanners
• Dental 3D printers

Mill questions

Does a mill replace a 3D printer?

No. A mill cuts a restoration from a block or a disc. A printer builds models, guides, splints, and some denture work from resin or filament. Many offices that do both own one of each.

Can any scanner send a case to any mill?

No. Closed systems want their own scanner and design step. Open mills want a file they can read. Match the mill to the scanner you have, or budget the scanner change with the mill.