Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

The first Colour Denture Printer

Article Category

Article available in the following languages:

Novel 3D printer and material allow quick, custom dentures

Now patients can get dentures fitted and take them home the same day, thanks to 3D printing.

Digital Economy icon Digital Economy
Health icon Health

Dentures are false teeth, either removable or fixed. Dentures have existed in various primitive forms for millennia, yet even the best modern versions have required individually customised manufacture, since everyone’s mouth is different. This process is highly labour intensive and time consuming, and therefore expensive. In recent years, 3D scanning of a patient’s mouth and 3D printing have simplified aspects of the process of making denture bases. Even so, numerous manual steps have not been eliminated. Although 3D printing of the complete denture device would be highly desirable, this has not been possible to date. The main problems relate to printing in a sterile environment and using materials that may be safely inserted into the mouth.

3D-printed dentures

The EU-funded indepenDent project solved these problems, yielding a novel process that is completely 3D printed. The project was an SME instrument phase 1 feasibility study, with the actual development planned for a later stage. The team mainly reviewed and optimised the base printing materials, and they identified methods of mass production to be pursued during Phase 2. “Our method starts with a CAT scan [X-ray slices] of the patient’s jaw,” explains Imre Palfalvi, project coordinator and CEO of Pi Dental, “or a 3D scan of the impression thereof. The resulting computer file is then entered into the machine. Using a proprietary 3D printing method, the machine melts the plastic strings and prints the dentures with the hot, liquid material.” The material then cools and solidifies at room temperature. Technicians then touch up, polish and adjust the dentures.

Custom materials

The process relies on PhilaDent. “We developed this 3D printing material specially for our denture printing application,” adds Palfalvi. “Other materials are either unsuitable for the dental environment or unable to be coloured and manipulated the way we want. That’s why we had to develop our own.” PhilaDent combines excellent glossy appearance with a fast flow rate and good impact performance. The material is easily worked, has a stable light base colour that can be easily coloured as needed and it can be smoothed in a sterile environment. PhilaDent also has antibacterial properties, unique in the field of 3D-printed dentures. The PhilaDent material has yet to be finalised. In readiness for that stage, project researchers developed a methodology for gaining EU certification of the material for use in medical devices. In addition, the team developed a patented 3D printer. This prints up to four separate differently coloured filaments of PhilaDent at once, each with specific thermal characteristics, and it does so in a sterile environment. Currently, no other technology offers these capabilities. Once PhilaDent is finalised, the printer will need to be optimised and prepared for mass production. The project team aims to reach that stage by 2023. With this development, denture manufacture will be much faster than present methods allow. Patients will be able to visit a clinic for fitting and then leave with their dentures a few hours later. The new method is also so much cheaper that it may completely eliminate old-fashioned manual techniques.

Keywords

indepenDent, dentures, 3D printing, PhilaDent, 3D printer, teeth, medical device, filament

Discover other articles in the same domain of application