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20 prosthetic section DENTAL TECHNOLOGY, JANUARY-MARCH 2023

FIRST TIME

3D PRINTED

DENTURES

A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT

ON THE TECHNIQUE AND

ECONOMICS

ANDRÉ GAUL, C.D.T. AND HUNG HSUAN LIN D.D.

The topic of 3D printed dentures has been bouncing about for a while
now. There is certainly no shortage of adverts in dental literature and
social media. But given the amount of questions that we at DenPlus Inc FIG 1: DS-EX desktop dental scanner
get about them, it is obvious that they remain somewhat enigmatic to
many. The most frequent questions are why, how they compare to tra-
ditional acrylic dentures and are they worth the upfront cost, which, in
all honesty, can be quite high once all the required elements are fac-
tored in.
The latter is especially pertinent with small to medium sized denture
clinics or labs that primarily or exclusively manufacture removables.
Another concern is how fast technologies become obsolete. Indeed,
today’s state of the art machine can become tomorrow’s paper weight
before it’s paid off, prompting many to simply turn a blind eye to the
potential benefits.
For the past few years however, cost effective 3D printers and alter-
native CAD design platforms have given rise to much more affordable
solutions that were previously unavailable. Slowly but surely, new FIG 2: Phrozen Sonic 4K 2022 FIG 3: Scanning of the primary upper model
material options are on the horizon. Keystone Industries, among oth-
ers, has been working on its own open system denture base 3D print-
ing material, which is scheduled for release in the near future, under
its KeyPrint label.
This time around, 3D printed dentures is in our reticle. In an attempt
to try to answer some of the questions surrounding 3D printed den-
tures, we decided to do a deep dive. In May of last year, I invited a den-
turist friend of mine, Mr. Hung Hsuan Lin, who had no prior experience
in digital denture design or 3D printing, to participate. With one of his
consenting patient in tow, we began the project. Our goal was to pro-
duce a full set 3D printed dentures, from start to finish, using the most
affordable means at our disposal, assess along the way how the fabri-
cation process compared to the traditional method, and finally, how
they compared to traditional dentures in terms of patient comfort,
function, esthetics and durability.
The first step was to pick a 3D scanner. While we had access to an
intraoral scanner, it was quickly ruled out. Firstly, its price fell outside FIG 4: Finished upper and lower custom tray designs in Zirkonzahn Tray Modifier