Replacing teeth and dental appliances is not a new technology. For a long time, the production of traditional dentures or other appliances has not changed much, but 3D printing has quickly changed our view of dentistry.

What can dental 3D printers do for dentistry? How does it use 3D printing to change the way teeth are repaired and replaced?

Traditional technology

Traditional dentistry used for appliances and dentures has not changed much. It usually includes X-rays used to detect problems, rubber models of existing teeth and jaw structures, and plaster molds made of rubber molded parts.

Once the plaster mold is made, the appliance or denture can be formed. This may take days or weeks, depending on whether the dentist has a laboratory on site or whether the mold enters an external laboratory.

After the equipment is completed, it needs to be adjusted to create a perfect fit, and may be further adjusted in the future.

These are not always the most accurate copies, although they are as accurate as traditional methods.

Dental 3D printing

There are many different applications for dental 3D printing, including:

1：Customized crowns, dentures and other appliances-by 3D scanning the patient’s mouth, dentists can program their 3D printer to make perfect-sized substitutes;

2：Orthodontic model-Creating a traditional tooth model requires biting into clay or rubber, which can later be cast in plaster. Using a 3D printer, the entire oral cavity of the patient can be scanned, rendered and printed within a few days;

3：Repair/replace damaged teeth-Dental implants are a good alternative to dentures, but they should only be used if they are suitable. 3D printed implants can be designed to perfectly fit the patient’s mouth and be printed within a few hours;

4：Surgical tools-unless you have a 3D printer, custom tools are expensive to design and manufacture. This is not limited to dentistry. NASA recently designed a tool and sent the file to a 3D printer on the International Space Station for printing;

5：Surgical Guide-The tools used to guide the surgeon who drills into the patient's jaw to place the dental implant are usually made using the same traditional techniques. Through 3D printing, these tools can be made of sterilizable materials and completed within a few hours;

6：Invisible braces-Once the patient's mouth is scanned, these invisible fixed braces can be easily printed within a few hours. When new settings are needed, scanning and printing the new settings is a simple task. With appropriate tools and software, it is no longer necessary to send dental appliances to an off-site laboratory for completion. They can be scanned, designed and printed internally in a few hours or days, depending on the size of the equipment required.

Benefits of 3D printing

Why does 3D printing have such an impact on the dental world?

First of all, 3D printing equipment is cheaper than traditional equipment. This seems to be the standard of the whole medicine. For example, traditional prostheses usually cost thousands of dollars. Using a 3D printer, they can make hundreds of them. This reduced cost can be passed on to patients in the form of savings, which is a blessing for those who do not have comprehensive dental insurance.

This is not only cheaper for patients, but also cheaper for dentists. It may cost more than US$100,000 to set up an internal laboratory. Medical-grade 3D printers usually only cost about $20,000.

The equipment made using 3D printers is also more accurate and has a longer lifespan than traditionally made equipment.

In recent years, dental restoration based on software design has been rapidly popularized. Many dental clinics and professional denture manufacturers have introduced 3D printing equipment, combined with 3D printing digital dental technology to directly transform 3D design models into realistic products for the dental industry Brings high-precision, low-cost oral data and products. Compared with the traditional manufacturing mode, oral 3D printing is more suitable for the production of small batches of customized and complex shaped products. At present, 3D printing has been applied in the fields of denture printing, orthodontic production, rehearsal surgery model production, and surgical guide production in dental medicine. Significantly improve the accuracy and efficiency of dental care.