3D dental printing technology

In recent years, the concept of 3D printing has become more and more popular, and the development of technology has also made various cheap and easy-to-use models widely popular. 3D printing can often be seen on the Internet, and the cheapest model is priced at less than 1,000 yuan. From time to time, we see some videos on the Internet, people use 3D printing to make models, which are very popular among netizens. However, unlike the popular entry-level machines in the market, dental 3D printing has significantly higher requirements for equipment and materials, including printing accuracy, printing speed, material strength, whether it can be sterilized at high temperature, whether it is toxic, and clinical use approval.

At present, the most widely used 3D printing materials in dentistry are resins. Among them, digital light processing (DLP) technology is more commonly used in dental resin 3D printers. Microlens arrays are used to project light, so that the irradiated photosensitive liquid resin is polymerized layer by layer, and solidified into a dental model for clinical application. Both models are equipped with a variety of resin materials. Different material colors and properties can be selected according to clinical needs. They can be used to process tooth models, plastic dentures, denture bases, fixers behind braces, and sterilizable implant guides. wait. 3D printing technology can be used to personalize designs for different patients, shorten the production and delivery time of dentures, and even provide temporary dentures to patients on the same day, avoiding social embarrassment caused by missing teeth, and improving patients' dental experience.

The most mature application direction of resin 3D printing is to manufacture dental implant surgery navigation. The dentist can formulate the implant plan on the computer in advance according to the patient's condition, design the guide plate with 3D software, and use it to guide the implant surgery after 3D printing and disinfection. This personalized implant surgery navigation can accurately guide the direction and depth of the dental drill, especially suitable for complex cases, such as multiple teeth implants, close to important body structures such as sinuses and nerve lines, complex bone types, etc. Dental efficiency and precision, thereby enhancing the treatment effect.

Another type of 3D printing technology is the selective laser melting (Selective Laser Melting, SLM) technology of metal materials. By precisely controlling the laser beam to scan layer by layer, the metal powder can be melted and solidified into a whole. The most advanced application direction of SLM technology is to print pure titanium implants, which can be combined with computer-assisted surgery (Computer-Assisted Surgery, CAS) technology to make personalized pure titanium internal fixation plates and pasterns for oral and maxillofacial surgery. joints etc. The pure titanium implant made by SLM technology has excellent physical properties, and the body will seldom reject it, and the high precision can make the implant highly fit with the patient's bone shape, thereby saving operation time and improving operation accuracy. and improve surgical outcomes. In addition, SLM technology can also be used to make metal dentures, metal brackets for movable dentures, etc.

All in all, 3D printing technology continues to develop, and its application in the dental field is booming. With the improvement of technology, 3D printing is expected to expand to the printing of ceramic materials and biomaterials in the near future, so that the technology can have more clinical applications. However, the large-scale clinical application of any technology needs to be based on safe and effective empirical evidence. The patient's clinical needs must be carefully evaluated by the dentist, and an appropriate choice should be made according to the dental condition.