How Does 3D Printing Work For Dental Treatments?

It once seemed like a thing of the future, but in the past few years, 3D printing for medical devices has become extremely easy and effective. 

This process allows dentists to offer a number of treatments from immediate implant placement to guided bone and tissue regeneration. But you may still be wondering how it works. 

At Ueno Center Dental Specialists, we offer safe, trusted options that are cutting-edge and extremely effective. We pride ourselves on striking a balance between what’s new and what’s tried and true. For more than a decade, dentists have used 3D printing in their practices.

Jeremy K. Ueno, DMD, and the rest of us on his team, wants you to not only gain the benefits of 3D printing for dental treatments, but also to understand how this process works. Here’s the inside scoop. 

How 3D printing works 

In short, 3D printing creates a three-dimensional object by building layers upon layers of the material of your choice. Because it’s able to create these items from different materials (but not all materials), a 3D printer is an excellent way to create medical devices. 

The process starts with a scan of what we need to create. In many cases of medical use, this means getting a scan of the patient first so we can create a blueprint of the necessary device. The printer can then form the device layer by layer. 

Why we use 3D printing in dentistry

There are several dental treatments for which 3D printing is useful. For example, we mentioned dental implants at the beginning of this post. At Ueno Center Dental Specialists, we use a 3D X-ray to capture an image of your mouth. 

This is highly accurate, shows us all hard and soft tissues, and makes it very easy for us to determine what you need. 

We then create a temporary crown with the 3D printer, which is something we do in-office. But the options don’t stop here. If you’re dealing with periodontal disease due to decay of your gums and/or bone, we use the same techniques to capture images of your mouth and re-create this material. 

Dentures and aligners are also sometimes built with 3D printers. This process has come so far in allowing providers to create many medical devices. But why do we often prefer it to more traditional options?

Why 3D printing benefits dental treatments 

3D printing creates extremely accurate devices that usually require no tweaking. And as you might have already guessed, having the most accurate option available is extremely important when you’re dealing with personal medical devices like implants. 

3D printing is also much more cost effective than some of the more traditional options. Again, we don’t need to go outside of our office to get you your medical device, and printing it ourselves is usually much cheaper. 

Finally, this process saves us — and you — so much time. We don’t need to send away your specifications, and we don’t need to fuss with getting your device sent to our office and scheduling another appointment for you. 

That’s right; you might be able to get the medical device you need (or at least a temporary version of it) the same day you visit us.

Are you ready to see how 3D printing can help you? 

If you’re looking for a treatment that’s faster, cheaper, and more accurate with the help of 3D printing, look no further. We’re happy to provide you with a consultation and help you start your treatment today. 

Call our Campbell, California, office, or make an appointment online at your convenience. We’re excited to see you smile.