The cost of dental restoration and treatment is an important factor that dental clinics and laboratories need to consider. Many prescient dental clinics and laboratories have introduced digital dental technology to improve efficiency and reduce costs. In recent years, dental restoration based on software design has become popular, and many dental clinics, laboratories or professional denture manufacturers have introduced 3D printing technology. Digital oral technology combined with 3D printing brings high precision, low cost, high efficiency, and oral data that conform to the standardized production chain for the dental industry.
Many dental clinics or laboratories use 3D printers to make patient tooth models. The three-dimensional data needed to make the model can be collected by directly scanning the oral cavity (scanning the entire oral cavity takes about 2 minutes), or by indirectly scanning the traditional physical model. Dental 3D models can be used as molds and use traditional methods to assist in the production of crowns, dentures, etc. The other function is similar to the 3D model of orthopedics and tumor surgery, that is, it is used to simulate and plan the surgical process, or to communicate the surgical process with the patient.
Direct 3D printing of dentures is also possible. PioNext Dental 3D printer prints temporary crowns. The temporary crown can be worn by the patient for as long as 5 years. Many professionals predict that by 2022, most dentists will gradually begin to use 3D printed crowns, which eliminates the need for highly specialized production in dental laboratories and also meets the different needs of patients for dental crowns.
In addition, dental appliances produced by 3D printing technology are also moving towards application. Compared with traditional dental braces, 3D printed transparent braces are not only invisible and beautiful, but the size is more suitable for the patient's teeth during each stage of the correction period. Compared with the traditional method that requires adjustments based on the experience of the dentist, this correction technique has more advantages. PioNext dental 3D printer equipment and materials produce transparent orthodontics.
The use of 3D printing technology to make metal crown fixed bridges and other restorations has also become a technology applied in the dental industry. In short, 3D printing brings the efficiency of digital oral technology to the production stage. By combining oral scanning, CAD/CAM design and 3D printing, dental laboratories can accurately and quickly produce a series of dental products such as crowns, bridges, dental models, and aligners.
The 3D printing technologies commonly used in the dental industry mainly include: photosensitive resin selective curing technology (SLA), selective laser melting technology (SLM), inkjet printing technology (Polyjet), metal laser sintering technology (DMLS), which is essentially SLM Technology. But each technology is suitable for different dental products. SLA technology is mainly used in the manufacture of dental surgical guides, temporary crowns and bridges, and resin models cast by lost wax. The materials used in dental crown fixed bridges and other restorations mainly include dental gold alloys, titanium alloys, cobalt-chromium alloys, and stainless steel. This type of restoration requires high precision and the shape of the restoration is more complicated. SLM technology has a great advantage in the manufacture of dental restorations because of its rapid, direct manufacture of precise and personalized complex metal structures. PioNext technology has many application cases in the production of dental molds, surgical guides, veneer models, orthodontic appliances, delivery and positioning trays, and related laboratory and business design of various models. The process principle of DMLS technology comes from selective laser melting (SLM). Traini T and others have adopted this technology to directly manufacture porous dental implants made of functionally graded titanium.
Whether it is 3D oral scanning, CAD design software, or 3D printing of dental molds and crowns, the significance of these digital technologies is that doctors gradually no longer have to make models, dentures and other dental products by themselves, and take on the work of dental technicians. More energy returns to the diagnosis of oral diseases and the implementation of oral surgery itself. For dental technicians, although they are far away from the doctor's office, as long as the patient's oral data is obtained, accurate dental products can be customized according to the doctor's requirements.
As a new technology in the manufacturing industry, 3D printing technology has become increasingly widely used in dental medicine. A large number of domestic enterprises are realizing the traditional transformation of the dental industry through 3D printing technology. Traditional denture processing is inseparable from the manual skills of dental technicians. This production method not only leads to a high rework rate of dentures, reduces work efficiency, and makes the comfort of patients wearing dentures greatly compromised. Compared with traditional denture processing methods that rely heavily on manual labor, digital dental technology replaces a lot of manual labor with scanning, software, and automated processing equipment, promoting the transformation and upgrading of denture processing from a labor-intensive industry to a technology-based industry. Traditional denture processing methods rely on manpower, and the procedures are complicated. The traditional method of manufacturing dental molds requires 20 procedures such as mold biting, mold repair, and surface treatment, and the delivery can be completed as soon as 7 days. Using 3D printing technology, the patient does not need to bite the dental mold. The doctor can print the denture base through the 3D oral scanner to form a digital model. The dental products manufactured by 3D printing technology have high precision and minimal error. It is completely customized, with good fitting effect, low rework rate, and no rejection reaction between materials and human body, which greatly saves manpower, financial resources, logistics and time costs.