14 DAY TRIAL // The dental industry is one of the development sectors that have formed a particularly tight relationship with 3D printing technology, even if we have been more focused on 3D printing in space lately. We're bringing you a new material today.
EnvisionTEC has been working with dentists for a long time now, making printers and materials particularly well suited for their professions.
It's not just normal dentists actually, but also maxillofacial surgeons, even plastic surgeons to number a few others.
The lower costs of operations (and operation planning), as well as the ease of use of 3D printing, not to mention the shorter time it takes to come up with a treatment and put it to practice, are clear assets to have.
EnvisionTEC reveals E-Appliance
E-Appliance is a 3D printing material used to make orthodontic models. You know, those things that dentists build, mockups of your jaw, maxilla and/or teeth lines.
They have proven quite useful in designing properly-proportioned teeth and teeth prostheses, not to mention plan teeth extractions and more complicated surgeries in case of infections or tumors.
The E-Appliance material is a nano-filled resin that works with EnvisionTEC’s Perfactory DLP and 3SP 3D printers.
Presumably, other SLA 3D printers would be able to make use of it, but don't hold your breath. Fortunately, professional dentists know better than to be random when it comes to their equipment.
The material will perform well when utilized to create orthodontic appliances with polyvinyl alcohol based-separators.
The models “grown” from this resin are guaranteed to be smooth and shiny, not to mention highly detailed. Then again, the SLA process itself is the one we really have to thank for the last one.
How to use the material
CAD software needs to be employed to build the orthodontic model of course, based on X-rays or whatever other means of scanning were employed. 3Shape, Dental Wings, or any other design software product is viable.
After the model is complete, one of the two 3D printers mentioned before will give them physical form. The finished products should carry a yellowish white sheen, much like the old and plaque-covered teeth of wizened people, amusingly enough.
Unfortunately, despite how useful the material can be, and how much better the dental techniques can be carried out, the procedures themselves won't be any more pleasant when you have to open your mouth and subject your palate and gum to the not at all tender mercies of the needle and scalpel. And don't even make us mention the dental forceps. We're not seeing the end of them, unfortunately.
