According to a 2015 article in Quartz, dentists were just on the verge of printing a tooth in minutes via 3D printer. We may not be there yet, but according to the Huffington Post, dental industry 3D printer sales increased over 75 percent from 2016 to 2017. So exactly how much is fact and how much is science fiction?
3D Printers, Digital Technology and the Dental Industry
Despite the futuristic images of new teeth being fabricated seemingly out of thin air at a dentist’s office, computer programs like CAD/CAM and laser technology have already been in use in many dental offices for over a decade. Also known as same-day crowns, CEREC (Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics) has allowed dentists to cut out the middleman and offer patients quick and affordable restorations like veneers and crowns in a single appointment.
Instead of taking a traditional physical mold of your teeth and sending it to an outside lab, CEREC technology allows dentists to take a digital image of your teeth and design the veneers or crowns using CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing). The computer program generates a 3D blueprint of the restoration, which can then be manufactured while you wait, using an on-site milling machine. If you like what you see and the fit is right, you can walk out of your appointment with your new crown, no need to wait weeks on end and juggle your schedule to fit in the next appointment.
How Long Before Every Filling and Crown Is Made by 3D Printer?
Despite the pace at which technology is advancing and disrupting everything from how you shop for groceries to how your dentist fill your cavities, cutting-edge technology can be prohibitively expensive in the early years. But as access to 3D printers becomes more widely available, the possibilities for the dental industry are endless. In fact, with access to a 3D printer, anyone can technically create a set of aligners or a crown (although your dentist strongly advises against that!).
But as the market for dental 3D printing technology explodes, manufacturers are developing newer and sleeker models, which will eventually help to bring down costs and get the machines into more dental labs, if not necessarily into the dentist’s office.
What We Can Look Forward To
As common restorations like crowns, fillings, veneers and even braces become cheaper and easier to produce, they will presumably become more affordable and widely available for consumers. And then there’s the convenience factor. It’s hard to say how many people choose to walk around with damaged teeth or dental imperfections due to the time and effort involved in committing to multiple trips to the dentist to fix a chipped or cracked (but otherwise functional) tooth.
The same goes for bite and alignment problems and other dental problems that can impact your oral health. With close to half of all Americans missing at least one tooth, according to the American College of Prosthodontists, the market for fast and cheap access to 3D-printed teeth is certainly there.
It’s difficult to say how long it will be before 3D printing completely takes over the dental industry and every practice begins to manufacture their own restorations in-house in the time it might take you to sip a tooth-staining latte from Starbucks. But according to industry professionals, 3D printing technology is like a bullet train that has already left the station, en route to making cosmetic and restorative dentistry more efficient and affordable. Stay tuned.
