After Dentsply Sirona release the CEREC Primescan in February 2019, it was only a matter of time before an accompanying milling unit came next. A little less than one year later, here we are…

Meet the Primemill: the next evolution of the MC XL Premium. An impressive feat of engineering- the Primemill is smarter, faster, and more precise than its predecessors.

SMARTER- The Primemill’s integrated block scanner will automatically scan your block to determine the type, size, color, and zirconia enlargement factor, which saves you the trouble of inputting this information yourself. In addition, the new Primemill burs are equipped with color-coded RFID chips, which feed information to the tool status display on the unit’s 7″ touchscreen interface. You’ll never unwittingly use a dull bur again.

FASTER- with the new Super Fast milling mode, you can mill zirconia restorations in half the time (approx. 5 minutes)! There is also an improved grinding mode for high quality glass ceramics to process those in record time as well.

MORE PRECISE- new electronics, software, motors, mechanical components, and a 0.5 mm milling tool allow the Primemill to achieve superior margins and surface details in Extra Fine milling mode.

With the Primemill, the CAD/CAM dentistry world is your oyster. Choose from a broad range of zirconia, glass, and hybrid ceramic options to mill or grind at blazing speeds. There has never been a more impressive or easy to use CAD/CAM system for the dental practice, but is this the right solution for you?

A Primescan, Primemill, SpeedFire oven (zirconia), and Programat oven (e.max/hybrid ceramics) will set you back well over $160,000. For the very busy same-day dentistry practice, you should be able to pay off the equipment and earn a return on your investment. Obviously, this would mean your practice has a long track-record of successful CAD/CAM implementation. But what about those new to same day dentistry? In my opinion, an investment of this magnitude would require a near certain expectation that things will go well. Unfortunately, in my business I meet a lot of people who find themselves in situations where things didn’t go as planned. These people become my clients.

There is another way to break into same-day CAD/CAM dentistry. Rather than expose your practice to potentially huge losses, I recommend you start off with a good used CEREC system. A used CEREC may not have all the bells and whistles of the latest and greatest, but it will function largely the same and yield nearly identical results at 25%-50% of the cost. Once you get your feet wet, optimize your CEREC workflow, and build your competency working with CEREC, then take the next step. By that time you should have paid back your modest initial investment, earned while you learned, and can take advantage of used Primescans and Primemills that will surely be available on the used market down the road.

For those that don’t need convincing to buy used and are looking to take advantage of the Primemill’s affect on the secondary market, stay tuned. As of yet, we have not seen an influx of mills hit the market like we saw with Omnicams last year during the Primescan release. Many factors will come into play such as Dentsply Sirona’s trade-in offer, the Primemill’s higher price point, and the number of CEREC owners who’ve made enough progress on their loans to make an upgrade financially feasible. Keep in mind that when the Primescan was released, the Omnicam had been on the market for 7 years. In contrast, CEREC’s MC X and MC XL dry mills have only been on the market for 4 years. So this time around I’m not expecting to see the same impact on the secondary market from the Primemill like we did with the Primescan a year ago. One thing is certain though, the future of CAD/CAM dentistry is primed for success.