EnvisionTec has shown a preview of a new dental material for 3D printing indirect bonding trays at last week’s International Dental Show. The new E-IDB material builds highly accurate and flexible custom trays that allow for fast, accurate application of orthodontic brackets that release with ease.
Indirect bonding trays allow orthodontic offices to place brackets on a patient’s teeth in about half the time as individual bracket placements, which can take about two hours. Essentially, a 3D tray or guide is printed to match an individual patient’s teeth, with space for a technician to add brackets. The guide is then lined up in the patient’s mouth, with UV light used to bond the brackets to the teeth so that the guide can be removed
EnvisionTec says that the new material requires virtually no post-processing meaning that four trays can be built in E-IDB in 45 minutes on one of its Vida 3D printers. The technology works with Ortho Analyzer software from 3Shape, which develops 3D scanning and CAD/CAM solutions.
Al Siblani, EnvisionTec’s CEO, says that it will allow doctors to print their own trays without relying on outside suppliers, adding: “This change gives clinicians more control over their trays, and how tight or loose they prefer them, as well as the entire treatment process.”
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