Conventional dental appliance production requires significant time, skill, and labor. To produce devices like aligners, retainers, crowns, and bridges, dental professionals have traditionally needed to use labor-intensive processes and complicated equipment. In recent years, however, 3D printing has enabled labs and practices to simplify oral device manufacturing.
Innovative resins, intuitive software, and powerful printing hardware provide dental professionals with the tools needed to streamline workflows and maximize output. Further, advancements in additive manufacturing technology have made 3D printing solutions accessible to both smaller practices as well as larger dental labs.
At LuxCreo, we offer a variety of printing solutions to meet the needs of differently sized labs and practices. Here’s how the right 3D printing dental solution can help improve your business model:
How Does the Process Work?
First, 3D printing replaces the invasive and uncomfortable molding process with digital intraoral scans. A dental office with an in-house 3D printer can capture digital images of the patient’s mouth to create a 3D CAD model. Instead of outsourcing, practitioners can simplify the process, even printing some appliances in the office on the same day. The systems involve basic training to use, don’t require a skilled technician, and being almost fully automated, are user-friendly.
The faster turnaround time of advanced 3D printers lets dental offices expedite treatment plans and deliver highly accurate aligners, night guards, retainers, and other appliances. Traditionally, products such as clear aligner sets take weeks to produce. 3D dental design services in labs and practices streamline the production workflow through batch printing, reducing lead time to deliver finished products back to the practitioner or the patient.
Why are LuxCreo’s Solutions Better than Other 3D Printing Companies?
LuxCreo’s 3D printing solutions for dental labs and practices offer ease of use and require less technical knowledge. Additionally, they provide flexible solutions in terms of build areas and speed, printing resolution and accuracy, post-processing, and scalability.
The hardware, software, and advanced resins were all designed holistically to accelerate the adoption of digital dentistry with customizable products. By adopting the 3D printing solutions offered by LuxCreo, dental labs and practices gain the following benefits:
-
Accuracy and Speed: LuxDesign software can go from digital scan/dental model to aligner in less than four minutes. Advanced materials such as DNG possess industry-leading toughness and biocompatibility.
-
Versatility: LuxCreo’s various 3D printing solutions offer options to meet the unique needs of different sized labs and practices. The Lux3+ is a large format printer that can create many appliances in a single batch. The iLux Dental and the iLux Pro Dental are ideal for smaller practices. Whatever your business requirements, LuxCreo has a flexible solution.
-
Optimized Workflow: LuxCreo’s LuxFlow software provides a fast, digitalized production workflow. Rotate tools include a fixed option and mirroring. Additionally, support generation can be automatically applied or removed. Batch tools make it simple to print multiple appliances in one job. Other features include marking and slice tools.
-
Reduced Post-Processing: Legacy 3D printing solutions require post-processing steps for retainers, clear aligners, and bite splints, leading to increased production time. LuxCreo’s 3D printing dental solutions enable direct printing of highly accurate clear appliances that require fewer post-processing steps.
-
Cost: The cost of 3D printers was too high in the early 2000s for private dental practices to invest. Technology advances have lowered the price of 3D printers, with LuxCreo’s solutions offering a lower total cost of ownership compared to other alternatives. Up-front costs are mitigated in the long term with the elimination of shipping and expensive manual labor.
The advantages of dental design solutions by LuxCreo not only benefit dental offices and labs, but get passed on to patients who get customized, accurate, and better fitting oral devices with fewer trips to the office.