Additive manufacturing makes digital dentistry a serious business choice, combining high-quality and improved patient care with low unit costs and simplified workflows.
Today, three 3D printing technologies are common in the dental field: stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP), and material jetting. Each technology can provide the precision and accuracy required for dental applications, but the quality of different machines and systems may vary.
The finished model of the PioNext dental 3D printer
1. Stereo Light Curing (SLA)-Liquid resin is selectively exposed to the laser beam in the entire printing area to cure the resin in a specific area. Stereolithography is highly accurate and has the best surface finish among the three technologies. SLA printers provide a large build volume and a wide range of materials for various applications. Changing the material is as simple as changing the resin tank and ink cartridge. The small footprint, simple workflow, and low price make desktop SLA printers ideal for dental laboratories and clinics.
2. Digital light processing (DLP)-Digital light processing uses the same chemical process as SLA, but uses a digital projector as a light source to cure the resin instead of using a laser. DLP printers have a small footprint, simple workflow, and a wide range of materials, but the cost is much higher than that of desktop SLA printers. DLP parts also tend to display voxel lines (due to the layer of small rectangular tiles formed by digital screens), and the surface finish is usually low.
3. Material jetting – The working principle of material jetting (PolyJet and MultiJet modeling) 3D printers is similar to inkjet printing, but instead of jetting ink droplets onto paper, it jets a layer of liquid resin onto the build tray and uses light. Cure immediately. A few years ago, material injection technology was the most common technology in the dental industry, but due to the high cost and large size of the machine, expansion was limited. They require a lot of post-processing, and the surface finish of parts produced using this technology is usually not as good as SLA or DLP. The material injection system has high throughput, but due to expensive proprietary materials, it can only be used for a limited range of applications.
PioNext 3D printer
Key features when evaluating 3D printing solutions
Accuracy and precision
Ease of use and reliability
Cost and return on investment
Materials and applications
Throughput and scalability
What is the cost of a 3D printer
The resin desktop 3D printer (SLA or DLP) for dental 3D printers starts at a few thousand dollars, and the metal 3D printer directly produced can reach up to tens of thousands of dollars. Some manufacturers only produce dental 3D printers, while other manufacturers have developed specific dental product lines.
Entry-level desktop SLA or DLP 3D printers start at approximately $1,000 and can be used to produce molds using special casting resins. The cost of an industrial-grade dental additive manufacturing system can be as high as tens of thousands of dollars. The price of dental 3D printers varies based on several factors:
Print quality-The higher the resolution provided by dental 3D printers, the better, and 3D printers are generally more expensive.
Build volume-More expensive dental 3D printers usually provide larger print volumes, allowing dental laboratories to optimize their production processes and increase their return on investment.
Dental 3D printing software – special software is required to create custom dental implants based on 3D scans of the patient’s mouth. Dental 3D software is an important part of the digital dental value chain.
Reliability and repeatability-probably the most important factors in the use of dental 3D printers in the production of dental instruments. Professional dental 3D printers must be able to consistently provide high-quality prints, especially in dental laboratory environments where quality control is frequent and the expected output is high. Therefore, some dental 3D printers are more expensive than others because they provide this reliability.