Dental businesses are progressing, and new technologies such as 3D printers and 3D scanners dedicated to dental work are quickly being developed. Dental laboratories around the world are creating new devices like 3D printed braces for a faster teeth alignment, orthodontic appliances, and 3D printed implants and dental crowns for patient and practitioner convenience.

Dental 3D printing is the key of modern dentistry. Digital dentistry is wide spreading for many reasons, mostly because it’s an easy way to get customized items quickly. Moreover, it’s a cost-effective and time-saving method. For example, if your 3D printed device doesn’t fit, you just have to modify your 3D design. You don’t have to redo the whole process as you would have with injection molding.

There are numerous benefits of 3D printing are and this method can definitely help professionals improve their daily work. Here are a few future 3D printing technology projects in the works for dental professionals and for the Dental Office of Dr. August De Oliveira.

3D Printed Braces with LED Lights

Researchers are quickly developing smart 3D printed braces with the aim to align and straighten the teeth faster, thanks to the use of LED lights. These semi-translucent 3D printed braces put a battery on each tooth, in order to power the light, because the energy actually helps the teeth to move faster. The light is invisible to the naked eye and it’s a very discrete process. The braces consist of non-toxic lithium batteries, but also contain flexible properties to make them safe and comfortable.

Note that these 3D printed braces are not accessible for a public use yet, but it gives a nice insight on the researches made in this sector!

3D Printed Dental Implants

Additive manufacturing also has an important role in dental implant surgery. It’s actually possible to create a 3D model to replace a missing tooth. Indeed, 3D printing allows to get a replacement tooth faster and with more accuracy than with traditional methods. It’s also an easier and economical method, and the final product has a really good finish. 3D printing and dental restoration offer a bright future!

In China, an autonomous 3D dental implant intervention created by an oral rehabilitation professional is able to lead an implant surgery by itself. This impressive surgery only takes an hour and results have been thus far successful.

3D Printed Dentures

Did you know it’s possible to 3D print complete dentures, with gum and teeth? Even the denture base is 3D printable and can be adapted to the patient’s morphology. For the moment, 3D printed dentures are only created for clinical tests, but we predict it will be a common 3D printed product really soon. Imagine the possibilities and convenience of 3D printed dentures for patients that are in desperate need.

3D Printed Crowns

Additive manufacturing allows to produce crowns very quickly, as the process can be done by the dentist by himself. It’s also one of the most common applications of 3D printing in dentistry. It’s possible to get a scan of the patient’s teeth, to model it and to directly print the crown. This process is time-saving, and the professional can modify and reprint the crown if there is a mistake.

This is not an exhaustive list of what you can 3D print in the dental industry, or what is coming. There are multiple options for 3D print surgical devices, night guards, and more. 3D printing can also be used for tools. With this, it’s possible to adapt perfectly the devices to the working methods, or processes.

By lecturing Nationwide, Dr. de Oliveira stays on top of many of the advancements in digital dentistry and showcases his work to the very critical eye of thousands of dentists each year. At our office we take great pride in providing high quality, high tech patient care while still treating each and every patient as if they were our close friends or family. For more information on our services, contact us online today!