How the MVZ Zahnkultur Dental Lab Produces Digital Dentures With 3D Printing

For the Form 3B+, Guendler focuses on manufacturing hybrid dentures. This means that denture teeth are 3D printed while denture bases are produced via traditional machining and then assembled with the 3D printed teeth using cold-curing acrylic.

Every week, technicians in the lab produce between ten and twelve sets of hybrid dentures to be sent out to customers. If duplicate or travel dentures are needed, they often manufacture them completely through 3D printing. In such cases, both the denture bases and the denture teeth are 3D printed and precisely assembled during post-processing.

Since the dental lab is using their 3D printers daily for different applications, they rely on organized workflows to leverage the full capacity of the lab's two Form 3B+ printers. More and more denture bases are being printed overnight after Guendler creates the CAD design during the day. That leaves the 3D printers available to print denture teeth and crowns during the day, as well as appliances for the preparation of procedures, such as custom impression trays and models. "If I need to print denture teeth, for example, I do that during the day, as they are done within one and a half or maximum two hours, allowing me to continue my work,” says Guendler.

The digital denture workflow begins with capturing an intraoral scan. "Our dentists are doing a lot of intraoral scanning. About 80% of impressions are sent to us digitally," Guendler reports. Based on these scans, custom impression trays are digitally designed and then 3D printed. The custom trays can then be used to take a further, traditional impression of the patient's dentition, as full dentures usually require an additional mucodynamic impression. This way, muscle attachments can be taken into consideration when printing the denture base. The new impression is then digitalized.

Guendler designs new dentures using the software exocad. If a duplicate is needed, he simply scans the existing denture or retrieves the file from the database, edits it in the software 3Shape, and directly prints it in Denture Base Resin and Denture Teeth Resin.

The transition from conventional methods to digital manufacturing of dentures offers dental labs like MVZ Zahnkultur Berlin Köpenick GmbH significant benefits. One of the obvious advantages is the economic benefit of digital dentures for labs as well as patients. This is particularly evident in the cost of materials. For a full denture that is 100% 3D printed in Formlabs resins, material cost comes to around $30. In comparison, a set of denture teeth alone produced with traditional methods costs $150, excluding the costly and labor-intensive denture base which can vary in price.

Guendler also details how the digital workflow helps him organize his time at work more efficiently. "For instance, I will design four to five dentures in the morning, and then prepare everything else in PreForm and on the 3D printers, so the dentures can be printed in the evening. The following day, I allocate time for post-processing and finishing and can deliver all orders of the week almost at the same time,” he explains. 

According to his estimates, based on years of experience with both workflows, producing a full denture using the digital workflow is up to 30% faster than with traditional processes. Additionally, conventional methods are often less streamlined, since you can only ever work on one denture at a time. Meanwhile, a 3D printer can print up to six denture bases simultaneously once they have been designed in CAD software. 

From the patient's perspective, 3D printed dentures offer the advantage of higher comfort. As Guendler explains, "Compared to a plastic denture, the full dentures printed with Formlabs materials are lighter and thus more comfortable to wear for our patients, especially on the upper jaw." Patients can also benefit from the database of labs; in case a denture gets lost or damaged, a replacement can be quickly reprinted.

Guendler also highlights the health benefits that he experiences with digital workflows compared to his years of using traditional manufacturing methods. "The digital manufacturing of dentures I think has the big advantage that us dental technicians hardly come into contact with the material. I used to have skin contact with various harmful plastics, monomers, and polymers on a daily basis and was breathing in their hazardous fumes." Having to work with wax and fire are further unpleasant elements of traditional workflows. By designing dentures on the computer and 3D printing, comparatively minimal post-processing is required, meaning dental technicians can benefit from a cleaner, safer, and more pleasant workflow.