Hello all!
This post has three purposes; to introduce myself and provide a small background, describe a field that yearns for innovation and briefly describe a project of mine to improve said field with 3d printing.
I work at an Advanced Dental Education facility here in Seattle, Washington. Our primary goal is to educate existing dentists and dental specialists in the latest, scientifically verified, methods, technologies and mentalities in the field and teach how to implement them in a successful and predictable way for general practice and beyond.
At this small company, I'm the "Technical Arts Specialist;" a blanket position to mean "all of the graphics and technology." I make the presentation materials, graphics and such while also designing and implementing updated and new technology.
I'm also a passionate tinkerer and am always seeking ways to improve things through technology.
Currently, a new set of tools available to dentists (at extreme costs) aims to replace the century-old method of creating diagnostic casts of patient’s teeth. Traditionally, patients would have to endure heavy alginate goo being smooshed in their mouth, waiting for minutes on end and popping out an impression of their teeth for a cast of stone to be made from. The alginate is pricey (around $25 per use) not to mention the comfort factor and time. But in the end, a reasonably detailed cast is made and the dentist can then work on the cast to evaluate the patient’s needs. Of course, a dentist who’s been at it for decades (like my boss) will have a small warehouse of model boxes from every patient they’ve ever treated. And what’s more frustrating than storing the models? Finding a specific one…
For the last decade or so, there have been very clumsy and awkward technologies that have emerged to make 3D scans of people's teeth right in the chair. Mainly for use with computerized implant placement or milled ceramic crown creation. The technology is very expensive and has very specialized uses.
Recently companies have emerged to streamline and simplify the process and as of just last year, in-mouth scanning technology has reached the level to where a general dentist can make accurate scans and the machine will spit out a .STL file for universal use.
Right now, only a handful of dental laboratories in the world have the equipment to create models from the scanned information and it is at a price and time. Currently the most common method of model making is milling from a block of composite material. But there is a mad dash to develop competing methods on the merits of cost and quality. Some companies are using Objet printers or PolyJet printers to make highly detailed, dimensionally stable models.
And that's where I come in.
A current project of mine is to streamline our 3D model printing workflow. Currently, we scan a patient’s teeth or scan their existing cast. Then a local company (but most often this occurs overseas for most people) mills 34 or so copies of that model that we distribute to the students during class. It takes our lab about four days to mill our models (weeks for others). They cost around $30 apiece; they are of good quality and have reasonable detail. They are milled on multi axis mills so the nooks and crannies are there. But I’ve seen fused-deposition printers make very attractive models that have a detail quality close to the tolerances of a standard stone cast.
Now to the point: I envision a 3d printer that can print a patient model in 15 minutes or so. It is connected to a terminal that has a database of all the patients and their STL files. Need a patient model? Scan…print…MODEL GET! Drilled too much on your model? Print a new one.
Easy, simple.
I’m working on a proposal to get a Thing-O-Matic here at my office (and one at home ^__^) to start the refining of the hardware and software.
Currently, there are a few limitations that I need to overcome; most notably, the layer thickness. The details of the models need to communicate fine details of anatomy and also be able to make contact with the model of the opposing jaw as the real teeth would. Speed is another challenge as well as a thing called “jaw relation” which is critical to proper cast manufacture (this is a software challenge).
I am a 3d computer animator and graphic artist by trade and hobby. My passions run high with 3d printing and I can see countless uses for the technology that would benefit a great many fields. As I embark on this project, I will likely be in the need of some assistance. I am humbled to see a community of people so passionate about this technology and wish to add what I can to this emerging field of innovation.
I look forward to becoming a regular here!
Thanks! And take care.
- Erik J. Durwood II