3D Printing Full Dentures With Formlabs 3D Printers

Traditional denture manufacturing is a complex craft with a steep learning curve, and dental labs increasingly struggle to find technicians with the advanced skills and expertise required to produce them.

Formlabs Digital Dentures allows dental professionals to grow and expand production with an efficient, cost-effective 3D printed denture solution. Class II(a) long-term biocompatible Denture Base Resin enables dental professionals to produce 3D printed full dentures accurately and reliably, every time.

Although the manufacturing process to create a digital denture is different from the traditional workflow, the chairside process is very similar. This application guide details the critical considerations and steps needed to go from a digitized patient model to a 3D printed full denture on the Formlabs Form 3B+ desktop stereolithography 3D printer and full post-processing ecosystem.

For more information, please refer to the Instructions for Use (refer to the links for teeth and base).

Adjust your workflow according to the software you use. 

3Shape

> Download our 3Shape materials library (DME).

 
^{Use the following tips while designing the denture.}

• Install the official Formlabs exocad materials library: follow the instructions here and install the materials library “Formlabs DentalCAD Materials (Materials Lab Formlabs@exocad)”
• This library contains all Formlabs Dental Resin settings, including Denture Base and Denture Teeth. All parameters are provided automatically during the CAD design.
• For best results, start with the provided parameters. You can adjust the coupling settings as you wish, but do not reduce the minimum thickness of 2 mm for the base.
• You can find a video about the design process with exocad here. You can design the base and the teeth for 3D printing with the Form 3B+ , or print the base and couple it with premanufactured teeth, or finally print the base and couple it with teeth milled from multilayer PMMA.

If you wish to use pre-manufactured teeth, consider using teeth designed for digital workflows. These will have a drastically reduced root portion, which leads to better aesthetics with our semi-translucent base material.

Denture teeth or card libraries are an important part of the digital denture process. Library compatibility varies by software. For example, some open libraries restrict output, while other libraries generate the denture teeth splinted, but not individually.

3Shape

> Open the Download Center in the 3Shape Dental Manager Control Panel to download new libraries. See 3Shape’s documentation for details.

Once you export the STL files from the denture design software, import the files into PreForm, the software that nests files for printing on the 3D printer.

Select the material for printing: Denture Teeth or Denture Base Resin. Alternatively, show Dental PreForm print setup using custom preset (or standard denture preset once available). 

Proper part orientation is critical to ensure accuracy and reduce post-processing after printing.

Remove the printed parts from the build platform. You can use the part removal tool provided by Formlabs. If you use the Build Platform 2, use the release handles. Alternatively, you can wash parts directly on the build platform using the Form Wash. 

Rinse the part in isopropyl alcohol (IPA), 96% or higher, for 10 minutes in the Form Wash (or 5 minutes in an ultrasonic bath) to dissolve any uncured or excess resin.

After washing, allow the parts to air dry or use compressed air to remove alcohol from the parts’ surfaces.

Once the parts have been washed, remove the raft and supports from the base and teeth. To save time, consider using a low-speed dental handpiece, cutting disc, and a universal silicone polisher wheel.

To remove the raft and supports:

1. Cut through supports a few millimeters from where they meet the part.

2. Remove the raft. 

3. Continue to remove and smooth the remaining support structure to the desired outcome.

If teeth were printed splinted together, reduce the embrasures between teeth with a thin flexible diamond disc for a more natural look.

Once the supports and raft are removed, wash the parts in IPA one more time for 5 minutes in the Form Wash or an ultrasonic bath to remove any debris. Again, let the part dry or use compressed air to remove alcohol from the parts’ surfaces.

Follow the steps below to insert and bond the teeth into the base.

After post-curing is complete, carefully remove the denture from the glycerin with silicone tongs. Wash the part in a sink under room temperature water until it is no longer slippery or slick to the touch. Allow it to air dry. As with a traditional denture, polish the denture at low speeds using a rag wheel on a lathe with pumice. Finish polishing at high speeds using a polishing compound.

Rinse again with room temperature water and steam clean to sterilize the finished denture.

Digital manufacturing of prosthetics is the present and future of removable prosthodontics, with the potential to bring increased affordability and quality to patient care as it evolves. Digital techniques do not remove the artistry from the production of dentures: they are another set of tools to help dental professionals produce highly customized, patient-specific prosthetics.

3D printing has promised to change the way things are made, and 3D printed dentures are one of the first truly economical ways in which people outside of fabrication industries will come to use and interact with 3D printed parts on a day-to-day basis. When you deliver your 3D printed denture, we hope you will take pride in being a part of this groundbreaking shift.