Prosthodontia system

A method of fabricating a restoration preform with a prosthodontia system comprising an imaging scanner for generating digital signals, corresponding to three dimensional images of a site in an oral cavity, a colorimetric value sampler for generating digital signals corresponding to colorimetric values of at least one tooth surface in the oral cavity, a processor operatively connected to the imaging scanner and to the colorimetric value sampler, a memory associated with the processor storing a tooth shape library comprising data representative of a plurality of tooth configurations, the system further including a fabrication station, the preform comprising a particulate material adhered with a binder, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) generating digital signals corresponding to three dimensional images of the site in the oral cavity with the imaging scanner,
• b) generating digital signals corresponding to colorimetric values of at least one tooth surface in the oral cavity,
• c) retrieving data representative of a preferred tooth configuration corresponding to the site,
• d) generating a signal defining the three dimensional shape and colorimetric values of a restoration as a function of the imaging scanner signals, the colorimetric value sampler signals and the retrieved preferred tooth configuration data,
• e) fabricating the restoration preform at the fabrication station by stacking a plurality of cross sectional incremental layers as a function of the signal defining the three dimensional shape and colorimetric values of the restoration.