Dental 3D Printing - Products and Applications

Dental 3D Printing - Products and Applications

With the spread of digital dentistry, dental 3D printing has moved from being a ‘support tool’ to a ‘core productivity’. From implant guides to full dentures, from temporary crowns and bridges to orthodontic models, all kinds of resin materials and printing devices are reshaping the way of work in the global laboratories.

In this paper, a complete set of dental 3D printing product introduction system is constructed from several dimensions, including material system, core product line, applicable scenarios, performance index and market trends.

First, the core value of dental 3D printing

- Rapid delivery: models can be shaped in as little as 20-30 minutes, making immediate restoration possible in clinics.

- Accurate and controllable: layer thickness up to 25-50 μm, edge fit is higher than the traditional manual.

- Dramatic cost reductions: Less material waste and continuous production day and night.

- Scalable production: the clinic can use 10-50 printers to produce different products at the same time.

Second, dental 3D printing material system and product classification

Dental light-curing resin is the core of the industry. According to different applications, they are usually divided into the following categories:

1. Diagnostic materials (Model Series)

Used for dental models, orthodontic models, implant planning, etc.

Representative performance

High precision (±50-100 μm)

High surface hardness for clear presentation of edges

Common colours: grey, beige, light yellow

Supports high speed printing, no deformation at high temperature

Typical applications

Orthodontic models

Crown and bridge wax-ups

Digital implant models

Comparison Models

2. Castable materials (Castable Series)

For precious metal and zirconia wax-ups.

Characteristics

Micro-ash (<0.1%), burns out cleanly

Sharp edges, strong sculpture

low shrinkage, suitable for high precision casting

Applications

Porcelain metal waxes

wax-ups for all-ceramic crowns

Waxes for metal denture supports

3. Surgical Guide Resins (Surgical Guide Series)

For implant positioning.

Characteristics

Medical grade formulation

highly transparent, tough, impact resistant

Autoclavable (121°C)

APPLICATIONS

Implant guides

Navigational surgical handpieces

Clinical positioning tools

4. Temporary Crown & Bridge Resin

Temporary restorations for use chairside or in the technician's office.

Core Properties

Flexural strength 90-120 MPa

Biocompatibility (ISO 10993)

High marginal precision, comparable to PMMA in terms of gloss after polishing

Can fabricate short and medium term temporary crowns/bridges

Applications

Single crowns

Multi-unit bridges

Long-term trial restorations

5. Permanent Crown Resin (PCR)

Emerging high-end material for permanent restorations.

Characteristics

Compatible with multi-layer ceramic fillers

Excellent mechanical properties (flexural resistance 120-160 MPa)

Stable colour and ageing resistance

CE/FDA approved for some materials

Applications

Permanent crowns

Inlays, veneers

Posterior occlusal restorations

6. Flexible / Soft Resin

For soft temporary wear, gingival, occlusal records, etc.

Characteristics

Shore hardness available (A60-A80)

High resilience

Simulates gingiva, soft tissue

APPLICATIONS

Gingival modelling

Denture edge fitting

Occlusal pads

7. Specialised materials for dentures (Denture Base / Denture Teeth)

Suitable for full dentures.

Material composition

PMMA-like formulation

Highly resistant to fracture and staining

Natural colour (A1-A3, gingival powder)

Applications

Printable dental trays

Printable denture teeth

Full mouth digital denture fabrication

Dental 3D Printing Application Scenarios

Scenarios Materials Used Technical Value

Orthodontic Model :High-speed printing, daily output of more than a hundred pieces

Temporary Crowns and Bridges :Chairside delivery, colour stability

Implant Guide :Improve the safety of implantation surgery

Full Denture :Digital Integration Process

Wax Casting :Enhance the precision of metal processing

Permanent Crowns :Replace a small portion of the traditional ceramic restorations

Dental 3D printing equipment

Equipment type

Desktop LCD dental printer: low cost, simple operation, suitable for clinics and small and medium-sized workshops

Industrial DLP printer: fast, high precision, support for large-scale production of a single machine can replace 3-5 LCD printers

V. Post-processing system

Dental 3D printing is not ‘print and finish’, post-processing is more critical:

Cleaning (IPA/special cleaning agent); secondary curing (UV+specific wavelengths); finishing, polishing, dyeing; clinical trial and adjusting the bite.

Industry Trends and Judgements

Permanent materials become the main battlefield, each brand competes for ‘permanent crown’ track, high strength, wear-resistant and CE/FDA certified materials will be greatly increased in the future.

3D printing denture into the accelerated period, Europe and the United States market has entered the rapid growth, the Chinese market will be fully popular in 1-2 years.

High-viscosity ceramic resin / composite resin is the future direction, both ceramic strength and resin easy to process, is the main line of the next generation of dental materials.

The supporting process will be more standardised: printing parameters, cleaning and curing process, chromosome system will be further unified to reduce the process differences between laboratories.