Looking Forward, Looking Back
November 1, 2026
Volume 47
,
Issue 8
,
November/December 2026
Page(s): 372
Digital dentistry has moved well beyond the novelty stage. Technologies that once seemed destined for a limited role in highly specialized practices—such as intraoral scanning, cone-beam computed tomography, computer-aided design and manufacturing, and 3D printing—are increasingly integrated into everyday clinical workflows. At the same time, advances in artificial intelligence, digital treatment planning, photogrammetry, and restorative materials continue to expand what clinicians can accomplish digitally, particularly in prosthodontics and implant dentistry.
Yet the significance of this transformation lies not simply in replacing analog steps with digital ones. The greater opportunity is the ability to connect diagnostic information, treatment planning, restorative design, fabrication, and communication within a more cohesive workflow. When thoughtfully implemented—while maintaining sound clinical judgment and established biological, restorative, and prosthodontic principles—digital technologies can improve efficiency and predictability while facilitating collaboration among clinicians, specialists, laboratories, and patients.
This issue of Compendium focuses on various aspects of the digital dental workflow, including an innovative approach for full-arch digital impressions with horizontal scanbodies, which are used with prosthetically driven implant planning, double-scan computed tomography, and guided surgery in a bimaxillary full-mouth restoration. Also, an in vivo study investigates inter-scanner discrepancies and their effect on passive-fit differences in full-arch rehabilitation. In addition, with AI increasingly impacting dentistry, a continuing education article presents a framework for safe and responsible clinical AI integration.
As exciting as all these digital advances are, dentistry remains primarily the realm of flesh-and-blood humans, and it is with a solemn appreciation of all that is “mortal and unsure” that I pause here to commemorate the recent passing of my friend and colleague Dr. Louis F. Rose. Dr. Rose served as the publication’s Editor-in-Chief and Editor Emeritus for nearly two decades. The author of many “From the Editor” letters that appeared in this very space, he provided sage advice for our readers and was a steady, much-respected hand at the helm of the journal. He was also a visionary clinician who would have been tickled to consider the opportunities AI and other technologies afford the profession. He will be sorely missed, yet he would not want us to dwell in sorrow. We honor him best by looking forward and moving ahead into a new year with new horizons to pursue—and that is what we shall do.
