The history of 3D printing in dentistry goes back to the first digitally-produced removable denture completed in 1994, but this was not an additive manufacturing process. The first major leap in digital technology facilitating additive manufactured (3D printed) dentures can be traced back to 2012. Since then, advancements in digital scanning, digital modeling, 3D printing, and materials science have continued apace.
What are 3D printed dentures made of?
Alongside progress in scanning, design, and manufacturing technologies, materials science has advanced lightyears from the ivory, porcelain, and vulcanized rubber of yesteryear.
Dandy’s Signature Denture is constructed from two forms of Lucitone. “This is space-age stuff,” says Chad Van Maele, a Dandy dental laboratory technician specializing in removable prosthetics with over 16 years of experience. “Lucitone denture base material is next level… It’s leaving the old analogue materials in the dust.”
A Boston University study compared offerings in the market, and found that teeth made from Lucitone have a higher wear resistance than others, as illustrated in lower volume loss.
Lucitone’s high performance can be identified along several key dimensions:
- Strength – Lucitone is what’s known as a Body Activated Material (BAM), meaning that, even if the denture just in your pocket it is still just as strong as a top-tier analog denture, but in your mouth–where it really counts–it’s twice as strong. Additionally, Lucitone Digital IPN exhibits minimal volume loss of only 0.09 mm³ meaning that it is highly durable over time.
- Water resistance – Lucitone boasts 4.3x better water resistance than its top competitor, Flexcera™ Smile. This impermeability helps prevent denture materials from weakening, warping, or degrading. It also makes the prosthesis less vulnerable to bacteria growth.
- Dimensional accuracy – The goal of 3D printing dentures is a 1:1 recreation of the patient’s natural oral tissue. With Lucitone, 90% of the printed denture base intaglio surface is accurate within 0.13 mm of the CAD/CAM design. This guarantees superior fit, comfort, and aesthetics. The tooth resin is also incredibly accurate with 95% of the printed tooth surface falling within 0.13 mm of design parameters.
- Tooth bonding/stability – By manufacturing both base and tooth resins, the Lucitone system guarantees minimal debonding–a leading cause of denture repair.
- Color accuracy and stability – Lucitone Digital IPN 3D Premium Tooth resin comes in a staggering 18 shades, which means that patients’ teeth can be faithfully recreated. Additionally, neither base nor tooth resins are subject to color change. This means that, if properly cared-for, patients’ dentures will retain their natural look for years.
3D printed denture workflow
The digital denture workflow streamlines the entire denture process start to finish. As opposed to the conventional methods that may require five or more visits of measurement, fitting, and refining before a satisfactory product is produced, highly detailed 3D printed dentures can be achieved in as few as 2-appointments.
Appointment 1 – Scan
A digital scan is taken using an IOS. With just a few clicks, this data is transmitted to Dandy’s lab, along with any notes and photos you’ve taken for reference. You’re officially halfway done!
Fabrication
Now the behind-the-scenes magic of 3D denture printing happens: using your digital scans, photos, and notes, Dandy’s technicians use CAD/CAM software to review and refine the highly detailed digital model. Correct occlusal relationships can be determined by manipulating the 3D rendered model in software. Once the design is finalized, it is fed to the 3D printer. The printer autonomously carefully extrudes Lucitone layer by layer, bonding and curing each to ensure integrity. Once the denture is realized, technicians free it from the raft (also known as a brim–the base on which any 3D printed object is built). After refining the denture’s edges, it is checked for quality and color consistency before undergoing final testing. If it meets standards, it is time to ship.
Appointment 2 – Fitting
It’s been about a week, and you’ve already got the patient’s new denture inspected and ready to go. All that’s left to do is have the patient pop their new denture in, ensure fit, and flash a smile.
Note: For fully edentulous patients, a third visit is often necessary. The added challenge with these patients is recreating their bite. In the first appointment, the initial upper and lower arch scans are taken and uploaded to the lab. From there, a wax rim is fabricated and shipped to the dentist. During the second appointment, you register the patient’s bite using the wax rim and performs a 360° scan, digitally merging that imaging with an intraoral scan to create a complete model. This data is sent back to Dandy who then fabricates the denture. All that’s left is the third appointment where the patient can try on their new smile.
Compared to the traditional processes, 3D printing dentures follows a faster, easier, and more efficient workflow resulting in:
- Improved dentist chairside time
- Speedier denture delivery
- Reduced shipping logistics
- Foolproof record-keeping
- Reduced need for adjustments/remakes
- Easy replacements
- Better overall clinical outcomes
- Reduced appointment times
- Reduced total appointment count
- Increased overall patient satisfaction
- ‘Wow’ factor
Advantages of 3D Denture Printing
Durability: Because they are manufactured from Lucitone, Dandy’s Signature Denture demonstrates impressive flexural strength (135 MPa) and compressive strength (142 MPa)—making them much more durable in real-world usage compared to analogue dentures.
Reproducibility: Since they are based on digital scans that are saved securely in Dandy’s database, in the event of a loss or breakage, an identical replacement denture can be manufactured using existing scans and data.
Efficiency: 3D printing dentures means lab technicians can apply their expertise and skill to a much greater volume of orders; the lion’s share of 3D printing is autonomous with the printer only using as much material as needed to accomplish its task. This means minimal material waste and minimal labor costs, both of which contribute to the high cost of analogue dentures. 3D denture printing is also faster than traditional, with a brand new prosthetic at your door about a week.
“The difference in the way that Dandy’s Signature Dentures are designed and the advancements in the material–that just makes them stronger and better overall than an analog denture,” Van Maele says, explaining that with traditionally fabricated dentures, tooth debonding is the most common cause for repairs. “With Dandy Signature Dentures the substructure is one solid piece, so you absolutely cannot pop just a single tooth out… ”
Van Maele goes on to note that the cost of repairs for inferior dentures usually lands on the dentist. “The lab’s gonna charge a repair fee to the doctor one way or the other, whether that doctor charges that patient or not… not good for the dentist, not good for the patient… Ultimately, every dentist would rather have the next patient in the chair, not the patient they should have already been done with.”
Disadvantages of 3D printed dentures
The disadvantage of a 3D printed denture comes down to aesthetics. Since 3D printing cannot yet account for the subtle variation in gingival shades nor recreate subsurface venous tissue, Dandy offers Aesthetic Dentures milled from Ivocar Ivotion and PMMA; base and tooth, respectively. These Aesthetic Dentures are distinct from our 3D printed products in that they’re made from a subtractive rather than additive manufacturing process, but that does not make them inferior.
“The main difference between a milled denture and [Dandy’s] printed denture is going to be an aesthetic one,” Van Maele says. “Our printed dentures, the tissue portion of it is monochromatic. It is just one color of pink… Analogue dentures traditionally would have fiber veins running through the pink part to emulate capillaries in the flesh so that the tissue portion of the denture looks more natural. Our milled denture does have those fiber veins, the printed denture does not.”
Reviews from real practitioners prescribing 3D printed dentures
Advanced materials, fabrication techniques, and workflows aside–none of it would be worth much if the product didn’t stand up to real-world conditions and everyday usage. Luckily, there is no shortage of positive reviews for Dandy’s Signature 3D printed denture and the workflow it enables.
“Our [traditional] denture process would take, probably–minimum–four appointments,” says Dr. Alex Linares, DDS of Houston, Texas. “Adjustments typically add another two to three.” But he says, with Dandy Signature 3D printed dentures, his practice can “bring maybe seven appointments down to two… that’s four appointments that can be used with other patients.”
Dr. Charlie Lucero, DDS of Grandview Dentistry in Kingman, AZ echoes Dr. Linares: “Dandy’s digital denture workflows enable us to see more patients in a shorter amount of time, so we’re working more effectively with our resources.”
Dr. Robert Lee, DMD of Omaha, Georgia has over 40 years in practice. Dandy’s digital dentistry enables him to complete 30-50 full denture cases per month. “I’ve been making dentures for over 37 years,” Dr. Lee says. “Once I made the change over to digital, it started being fun again–it’s not laborious…” Dr. Lee says that, after all of his experience, Dandy’s products are so precise and well-made that, “I know when I walk into a room, the denture is going to fit. There’s very few sore spots. The accuracy is incredible.” Dr. Lee notes that, besides superior products and turnaround times, the streamlined workflow itself has a massive effect on his bottom line. “I do a lot of dentures for patients on medicare and I can’t afford to offer this service if the process is going to take more than a few appointments. With 3D printed dentures, I can now do 40, 50, even 60 units a month. It just makes life a lot easier”
3D printed dentures with Dandy
Dandy’s approach to digital dentistry is epitomized by our 3D printed Signature Denture–an innovation, not just in terms of product quality, but workflow, support, and efficiency. Featuring Lucitone, our Signature Denture features unparalleled durability and detail.
“One of the things [in the past that had been] holding back digital dentures was not the technology of how to design or how to print, it was the materials being good enough that they would actually hold up for a general restoration.” But, Van Maele adds, things have changed in a big way. “What’s cool about Dandy’s 3D printed Signature Dentures is not only do they match the strength of the analog materials, they best them.” And the improvements don’t stop there. With 3D printed dentures, “you remove the room for human error in the processing of the denture–there’s not a person making a physical mold, boiling wax, packing acrylic and all that. It just goes through a printer and the printer doesn’t make mistakes.” Brilliant smiles, built to last–that’s the Dandy difference.
Partnership with Dandy means you can count on superior products made from cutting-edge materials in a fraction of the time, all with the amazing support of Dandy’s team of expert technicians.
“I just never take it for granted that that’s what I do for people every day,” Van Maele says. “I get to give them back their smile. That’s a pretty cool thing to do.”
Get in touch with our team to get started today!
