These printed crowns and bridges sit on the building platform. Who would’ve thought our mouths would from off the assembly line?
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Isaac Newton wrote this to a scientific rival in 1676 in reference to new discoveries he’d made. I use it now because I’ve seen a glimpse of the future…and it’s a world in which 3D printing and dentistry form a perfect union.
3D printers have been getting a lot of press lately (if you haven’t checked it out yet, look at this 3D printed gun magazine at work), and with good reason. They are remarkable machines, able to turn 2-dimensional data into 3-dimensional form. Like the TV or the Internet, it began as a sort of novelty. But now, there seems to be real application.
With 3D printing, dentistry and orthodontics can and will become so much more efficient. The technology is a perfect fit, like a glove. For instance, dental labs can use these printers to create crowns, bridges, stone models, and many other appliances for dental offices both quickly and precisely. The capabilities and possibilities are truly revolutionary.
3-D printed choppers.
It has been years since I had braces or even wore my retainer, but I still remember getting my impression. Biting down into that bubble gum-like substance that tasted like plastic, getting bits and pieces stuck between teeth, that lingering synthetic flavor. All of this will be a thing of the past thanks to 3D printing. Instead of an impression, a 3D scan is taken of the mouth. Its then uploaded onto a computer and printed out, with unprecedented accuracy. A dentist can even email the digital scan to other dentists for a second opinion. Also, no more closets full of those molds. With just the click of a mouse you have access to every patient’s digital mold. Speed and convenience are new words in the dental lexicon from now on.
The Objet printer can find space on any desk.
What’s great about the printers is that they fit on a regular desktop. They’re not room-size machines like NASA in the 1960s nor are they exorbitantly expensive, so even small dental practices can utilize them. Productivity will soar as printers, such as the Objet Eden260V, can churn out 20 to 30 models at a time!
Without a doubt this is a peek at the future, of the shape of things to come. The way in which 3D printing will revolutionize dentistry makes me wonder what other industries will change. I never would’ve imagined the synergy of dentistry and 3D printing, and yet in hindsight, it’s so blatantly obvious. What else out there will be forever changed by this technology?
Dr. Joe Rota is a leading general and cosmetic dentist and the winner of eight international medals from the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He first opened Rota Advanced Dental Care in Colorado Springs in 1978 and has been providing excellent dental care ever since. Dr. Rota is best known for being a technological pioneer in the field and for being one of the first dentists to use therapy dogs in his office. In his spare time, Dr. Rota enjoys landscape photography, silk flower arranging, and riding his Harley.
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