Prefabricated components for dental appliances

A kit for the fabrication of a dental appliance comprising:

• one or more ready-to-use components wherein the one or more ready-to-use components comprises a prefabricated preshaped cured fiber-reinforced composite material comprising a polymeric matrix, a filler component, and a reinforcing fiber component;
• wherein the one or more ready-to-use components comprise pontics;
• wherein the pontics comprise one or more pontic sections and one or more sets of interpoximal extensions extending through and out of the pontic sections and comprising a prefabricated preshaped cured fiber-reinforced composite material comprising a polymeric matrix which is formed by a resin, a filler component, and a reinforcing fiber component;
• wherein the fiber-reinforced composite material comprises fibers distributed uniformly in the resin and wherein all the fibers are thoroughly wetted by the resin;
• and
• wherein the fiber reinforced composite material is shaped and cured to a hardness for use in the dental appliance system.

A method of making a dental restoration comprising:

• putting a ready-to-use structural component onto a dental cast, the structural component comprising a prefabricated preshaped cured fiber-reinforced composite material comprising a polymeric matrix which is formed by a resin, a filler component, and a reinforcing fiber component, wherein the fiber-reinforced composite material comprises fibers distributed uniformly in the resin, wherein all the fibers are thoroughly wetted by the resin, and wherein the fiber-reinforced composite material is shaped and cured to a hardness for use in the dental restoration;
• adding one or more layers of composite material thereon;
• and
• curing the one or more layers of composite material.

A method of making a dental restoration comprising:

• fabricating a fiber-reinforced composite material into a shaped component wherein the fiber-reinforced composite material comprises a polymeric matrix which is formed by a resin, a filler component, and a reinforcing fiber component, wherein the fiber-reinforced composite material comprises fibers distributed uniformly in the resin, wherein all the fibers are thoroughly wetted by the resin, and whereby the fibers are impregnated with the polymeric matrix and filler component and formed into shapes under pressure;
• curing the shaped component to provide a prefabricated, shaped, cured component;
• and
• milling the component under the control of a CAD/CAM system to provide a dental appliance.