I went to my local dentist to have a crown put in yesterday in the local village of 500 people. He digitally photographed the tooth area, edited the 3D image in the consultation room in front of me in the screen, sent it to his milling center down the hall and machined it in a little Two axis micro mill, and it was done in 20 minutes. The milling included a hollow in the back side to fit over my tooth stub.
I was impressed, even more so when I got the bill of $1500.00 after my Senior discount of 10%.
The system uses porcelain blanks, and the milling cutters are about 1 mm in diameter.
No more sending out an impression and waiting 2 weeks for the crown to come from an outside lab.
He then glues the crown in place with some polymer adhesive cured with UV light.
Mosey