What’s a closed zirconia milling system and what is the benefit of an open system?

Open and closed architectures refer to the way scanners/design stations communicate with the mills and printers. An ‘open’ system provides a standardized file type and structure that can be understood by other open systems and equipment. A ‘closed’-architecture (proprietary) system will only work with equipment that uses the same proprietary file types and structure. Open- architecture systems may provide the ability to use a number of different scanners, mills and printers, perhaps the best one for the desired task. However, if there is a problem with a final output, it may be difficult to track down the source of the problem and obtain assistance in resolving it. With a closed-architecture system, you are relying on one manufacturer for each piece of hardware. They shouldn’t have any issues helping the user identify problems. A closed-architecture manufacturer is probably more likely to have brand recognition in their favor and the abilityto provide marketing support. Recently, at least one closed-architecture manufacturer has opened up their system to work with selective other open-architecture products.