5 Surprising Ways To Use 3D Printer In Dental Practice

3D printing has been hailed as a disruptive technology which will lead us towards modernization. 3D printing has been used in art, design, aerospace and is becoming a great interest in surgery. This technology has a special connection with dentistry and with advances in 3D imaging such as Cone Beam Computer Tomography or CAD CAM it has become of great importance in dentistry.

How 3D printing is reshaping dentistry

Dentistry is the field where all prosthesis is custom made for patient. There is no one size that fit all when it comes to crowns, bridges or implants. This makes 3D printing an ideal fit for dental industry as it is possible to make crowns, surgical guides and trays as quickly as possible, thus, there is no need to go through long processes such as taking physical impressions and creating plaster mock up. Thus, prosthesis can be printed immediately without even having patient to leave the chair.

How exactly do dentist use 3D printing technology

Replace or repair damaged tooth

Dentist can scan patients mouth with intra oral scanner. This creates a 3D image of teeth and gums. The further designing of tooth can be done using computer aided design (CAD) which enables dentist to design tooth repair and with help of printer a finished product can be fabricated.

Create orthodontic model

Gone those days where patient had fear of severe gag due to the impression material placed inside mouth. This can easily be replaced by using 3D Printers where after intra oral scanning, dentist can design an orthodontic appliance and print the model in house.

Produce crowns, bridges and dentures

Scanning and designing can be used to fabricates crowns or bridges and fabricate the prosthesis using 3D printers. The only difference here is the precise material used in printing process.

Construct surgical Guides

Along with making of prosthesis, 3D printers can be beneficial for printing the guides that are required for implant planning.

Making implant prosthesis

Getting a custom fit prosthesis is mandatory in dentistry as it a must to gain good occlusion.  Nowadays as implants are preferred highly for aesthetics, along with this if the procedure is done in a shorter time, the acceptance for implant’s becomes easier and time saving. 3D printers can fabricate the prosthetic part of implant in a single visit and give a fixed solution to patients.

What are the benefits of 3D printing in Dentistry

Dentistry is whole and sole dependent on labs for fabrication of crowns, bridges and dentures. So why change to 3D printing technology now?

Dentist can save money

Adding a dental laboratory is a significant cost for any dental practice. Along with it you need a trained staff to do the procedure. Also, always there is a dependency. Compared to this using a 3D printer seems to be much more convenient and a time saving source

Patients save money

The high cost of sending work to laboratory is reflected in each patient’s bill. When 3D printers are used the overhead cost can be minimised thus saving patients money.

Faster service

Manual model making is time consuming while 3D printers allow for multiple appliances to be printed at once. Accuracy is also improved since 3D printers convert digital images into physical objects by printing thick layers one on top of the other. Thus, directly increases the production capacity gives more accurate end result benefitting patient as well as dentist.

One such 3D printer is Phrozeen mini 8k 3D printer. The 7.1” LCD screen and 18cm z-axis are perfect for printing all sorts intricate miniatures. It is the only compact sized 3D printer with dual linear rolls. There is an intuitive interface for easy navigation and it produces sharp 8K prints with the linear projection LED.

Conclusion:

Time to say adios to the traditional laboratory methods and move towards the advanced 3D printing devices which can produce high quality products with extreme stability.