What is 5-Axis Milling

Sungshin Univ. Dental Clinic 5-Axis Wet Milling Machine,
what does it do?

A 5-axis wet milling machine is a CAD/CAM machining device that cuts a block of material simultaneously along five axes to match the designed restoration data. Seongmo Dental Clinic keeps the DEPRAG W5 Pro in-house to directly mill crowns, bridges, inlays, veneers, implant abutments, and intraoral appliances.

2.5kW

Φ62mm Water-Cooled Spindle

398Ncm

High Torque for Metal Milling

24×2

Wet & Dry Tool Magazine

It used to take an impression sent to an outside lab, and 1–2 weeks before the finished restoration came back to the clinic. In between, patients had to get by on a temporary, and if the restoration didn’t fit, the whole process repeated. The 5-axis wet milling machine Seongmo Dental Clinic installed in-house brings that process into the treatment room. Data from the Primescan 3D intraoral scanner is designed directly by the director, and the W5 Pro mills the material to that exact design. Because the designer and the treating clinician are the same person, the shape actually needed inside the mouth is carried straight into the restoration.

5-Axis Wet Milling — Core Technology

Simultaneous 5-Axis Control — reaching angled and inner surfaces

In addition to linear movement on the X, Y, Z axes, the material itself rotates on a 360° A-axis and tilts on a ±30° B-axis simultaneously. Undercuts a 3-axis machine’s tool can’t reach, angled margins, and the screw-hole angle of an implant abutment can all be milled in a single setup.

Wet Milling — why it can cut glass-ceramic and titanium

Coolant is sprayed onto the cutting point during milling. Glass-ceramic (lithium disilicate), sensitive to heat and micro-cracking, and titanium/cobalt-chrome metal, prone to heat distortion, are difficult to mill precisely without wet processing. The W5 Pro supports both wet and dry milling, handling everything from zirconia to metal abutments on one machine.

60,000rpm Spindle — fast enough that thin margins don’t chip

A 2.5kW water-cooled spindle spinning up to 60,000rpm drives a fine bur at high speed to shave the material away in small increments. The higher the rotation speed, the less material removed per pass, so even restoration margins under 0.5mm finish smoothly without chipping.

24×2 Tool Magazine — even tool changes are automatic

With 24 wet and 24 dry tools loaded, the machine automatically swaps to the tool suited to each milling stage with 0.01mm setting precision. From rough cutting to fine finishing burs, the process continues without a human hand.

Why 5-Axis

Why does it need to be 5-axis, not 3-axis?

?A tooth isn’t a straight column. The chewing surface has contours, the sides curve inward, and the gum-line margin runs at an angle. A 3-axis machine, which only moves up and down, can only cut surfaces the tool reaches vertically — so undercuts end up more blunted than they really are, and the gap is filled with cement.

The larger the gap, the more the cement washes out, letting bacteria in and starting secondary decay.

A 5-axis machine rotates and tilts the material itself so the tool approaches every surface at the ideal angle. The smaller the difference between the designed shape and the actual milled part, the smaller the gap between restoration and tooth — and that gap is what determines the restoration’s lifespan. This matters especially for custom implant abutments, where the screw-hole angle, gum-line contour, and relationship to neighboring teeth differ for every patient. Being able to mill a shape fitted to the patient’s own mouth in-house, rather than using a stock part,

Materials & Precision

is the biggest reason we adopted a 5-axis mill. What materials, and at what precision,

0.003mm

does it mill?

0.01mm

Milling Precision (under 3µm)

Automatic Tool-Setting Precision

8+ Types

Materials MillableThe W5 Pro mills zirconia, glass-ceramic, PMMA (temporary resin), titanium, cobalt-chrome, PEEK, composite, and wax

— nearly every material used in dental restorations. Each material suits a different clinical need.

Zirconia — Molar Crowns & BridgesHigh strength suits molars that bear heavy chewing forces. After milling, it reaches final strength through about 30 minutes of ultra-fast sintering in the Speedfire

. Shade is matched to the tooth color measured with the VITA Easyshade for a natural-looking result.

Glass-Ceramic — Anterior Veneers & InlaysThe material with light translucency closest to natural teeth. Thin and fragile, so wet milling is essential

, and it’s used where a natural look matters most, such as anterior veneers or esthetic inlays.

Titanium/Cobalt-Chrome — Custom Implant AbutmentsA metal that can only be milled with a high-torque 398Ncm spindle and wet cooling. Custom abutments that sit on the implant fixture are milled to match the patient’s own gum contour

PMMA — Same-Day Temporaries & Temporary BridgesOn the day your tooth is prepped, we mill a temporary from the same design data as the final restoration. It’s stronger than a 3D-printed part, which is an advantage for temporary bridges worn over a longer period

Treatment Process

.What is the treatment sequence

?All five steps happen in-house. With no shipping or waiting between stages, some cases can go from tooth prep to final restoration in a single day

.PRIMESCAN

An optical scan of the mouth, no rubber impression material needed. It captures the shape of teeth and gums with millions of data points per second.

Director Designs It PersonallyCAD DESIGN

The treating director directly checks the bite, margins, and contact relationships while designing the restoration. Designer and clinician are the same person.

5-Axis Wet MillingW5 PRO

The material block is cut to match the design data. A single crown typically finishes milling within tens of minutes.

Sinter, Polish & GlazeSPEEDFIRE

Zirconia finishes the surface with polishing and glazing after about 30 minutes of ultra-fast sintering.

Intraoral Try-in & SeatingSEATING

Bite and margin fit are checked intraorally before seating. If adjustment is needed, it’s remilled on the spot.

Comparison

What’s different from an outside lab

	?	Outside Lab Order
In-house 5-Axis Wet Milling	Turnaround	1–2 weeks, including shipping & lab schedule
Same day to a few days, depending on the case	Designer	A lab technician who never saw the mouth directly
The treating director designs it personally	Sources of Error	Impression distortion · plaster model · transport
Scan data milled directly	Revisions & Remakes	Re-order and wait another 1–2 weeks
Adjusted and remilled on the spot	Temporary Period	Worn continuously until the restoration arrives
Minimized or skippable	Metal/Ceramic Milling	Varies by lab’s equipment

Wet milling handles even titanium and glass-ceramicLab technicians at outside labs also make excellent restorations. The difference isn’t the people — it’s the variables introduced in the process

Glossary

. Impression material deforms as it sets, is transferred to a plaster model, and error accumulates at every shipping stage. In-house milling skips those steps, going straight from scan data to restoration.Terms

worth knowing: 5-Axis Machining
A milling method that adds two rotational axes (A, B) to the three linear axes (X, Y, Z), letting the tool approach every surface of the material at the ideal angle.: Wet Milling
A method that sprays coolant onto the cutting point. Essential for milling heat-sensitive glass-ceramic and metal.: Margin
The boundary where a restoration meets the tooth. The wider this gap, the greater the risk of secondary decay.: Undercut
A surface that curves inward. A classic shape a 3-axis tool can’t reach, requiring 5-axis milling.: Custom Abutment
The connector piece between an implant fixture and crown, milled to match the patient’s own gum contour.: Sintering

FAQ

The process of firing milled zirconia at high heat to reach its final density and strength. Completed in about 30 minutes with the Speedfire.FAQ

Q.Can I really get a crown in a single day?

For many cases such as a single crown or inlay, same-day seating is possible. Depending on the number of teeth, gum condition, or whether root canal treatment is also needed, splitting treatment across a few days can sometimes give a better result, and we’ll explain this at diagnosis.

Q.What’s the difference between wet and dry milling?

Dry milling uses no coolant; wet milling sprays coolant while cutting. Zirconia can be milled dry, but glass-ceramic, titanium, and PMMA require wet milling due to heat distortion and micro-cracking. The W5 Pro supports both methods.

Q.Is an in-house restoration as accurate as one from an outside lab?

Milling precision itself is under 0.003mm, the same level as lab-grade equipment. On top of that, there’s no error from impression material, plaster models, or shipping, and the director who examined the mouth directly does the design. A final intraoral try-in confirms fit before seating.

Q.Are implant restorations also made with this machine?

Yes. We directly mill titanium/zirconia custom abutments and implant crowns. Being able to design the gum-line and screw-hole angle per patient gives better gum health than a stock abutment.

Q.Is every restoration made the same day?

No. Long bridges spanning several teeth, or anterior cases with very high esthetic demands, are safer when made after checking progress with a temporary first. Results take priority over speed, and we suggest the most favorable schedule case by case.

Q.What does it cost?

Restorative treatment is a non-covered item, and cost varies by material (zirconia/ceramic/metal), tooth condition, and number of teeth. In-house fabrication doesn’t add any separate equipment-usage fee. Exact pricing is provided after diagnosis based on our fee guide.

A restoration’s lifespan is decided by a gap you can’t see.

We treat with an in-house restorative system — scan, design, mill, and seat — that the director personally oversees from start to finish.

Book a Consultation Seongbuk-gu Seongmo Dental Clinic · 02-922-3966 · Exit 2, Sungshin Women’s University Station

References & Notes
Equipment specs: per official DEPRAG W5 Pro specifications (spindle 2.5kW/60,000rpm, torque 398Ncm, milling precision under 0.003mm, tool magazine 24×2). Treatment time and same-day restoration availability may vary depending on individual oral condition and treatment scope. This page is provided for medical-device information purposes; an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan will be provided through an in-office consultation.

Sungshin Univ. Dental Clinic 5-Axis Wet Milling Machine,what does it do?