During the CAD-CAM crown procedure, instead of taking physical impressions, a dentist uses optical or laser scanning technology to capture a digital image of the tooth from all angles. The dental practitioner uses special 3D software to design the crown and sends it to a mill located in the office. The dentist then places a block of porcelain in the mill to form the tooth. Drills in the mill carve and shape the tooth, following the pattern of the mold sent via scan.

Temasek Polytechnic, a university in Singapore, is developing a new technique for better, faster, and cheaper Dental Crowns and Bridges, as a result of 3D printing. The technique involves creation of a traditional impression that is then turned into a form, which is scanned to create a digital model and in turn, the mold for shaping the exterior and interior metal form to attach the prosthetic to the receiving tooth.

A group of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are working on using an SLA 3D printing method to manufacture temporary teeth restorations. Temperature Controlled Mask image projection-based stereolithography (TCMIP-SL) processes use a set of horizontal planes to slice a 3D object, and each slice is converted into a 2D mask image. Then, a 2D patterned light beam, which is controlled by a digital micromirror device (DMD), is projected on the surface of a photocurable material, which is then cured layer by layer to build the 3D object.

A group of researchers from the Sri Rajiv Gandhi College of Dental Sciences & Hospital in Bangalore, India evaluated the marginal accuracy of Cobalt-Chromium copings (thin covering of the tooth’s crown portion) fabricated using DMLS, computer-aided milling, traditional casting, and ringless casting and comparatively analyze the marginal discrepancy. They used typodont resin model made of silicone impression material and 40 copings, for which they used 3D laser scanner from 3Shape to obtain an indirect impression of the tooth model, and then used the data to design the coping in 3Shape’s CAD software program, before they were 3D printed on an EOSINT M 270 3D printer from EOS.

Dr. Les Kalman at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry has developed a dental implant abutment system called the Tempcap in collaboration with ADEISS, a 3D Printing Company dedicated to medical and dental 3D printing solutions. Using Renishaw 3D printers,  ADEISS worked on designing and 3D printing a version of the dental device in dental-grade titanium for testing, which was proved to increase the provisional crown quality and reduce the time required to fabricate the provisional crown for mandibular implant sites.