EnvisionTEC introduced their newest 3D printer for orthodontic practices and laboratories in Booth #3121 at the American Association of Orthodontics 2015 Annual Session in San Francisco, California.  The Perfactory® Vida is a low cost, open architecture, easy to maintain and user friendly 3D printer for the digital dental laboratory.

ClearCorrect LLC manufactures clear dental aligners, and they say using 3D printers to build each and every one of their fittings has helped them realize a 30% increase in the company’s capacity to produce those custom-made orthodontic aligners.

Invisalign treatment has been growing in popularity since its launch in 1999, and its reach has spread around the world. Its use of digital scanning, computer modelling and 3D printing enables it to produce customised teeth aligners that steadily move the teeth into place over the period prescribed to each patient.

There’s no pain or discomfort, and young patients find it “cool” to watch their teeth begin to take shape in 3D on the computer screen. A trip to the orthodontist has suddenly become a high-tech, almost futuristic, experience. In this specific case, taking digital impressions instead of traditional impressions.

One of the biggest markets for 3D printed dental devices is in the area of orthodontics. 3D printers enable orthodontic professionals to create all manner of personalized equipment right from their desktops. The technology presented by additive manufacturing allows specialists to dramatically reduce fabrication times and increase technicians’ output times.

Align Technology, a leading Orthodontic Company using 3D Printing has made a recent announcement with press release stating they will now acquire Global Dental CAD/CAM software firm, Exocad.  The two companies have signed a cash deal for the purchase of the privately held company for around 376 million Euro which is expected to close during the second quarter of 2020. The two companies see it as an opportunity to expand the orthodontic market  for doctors by integrating clear aligner orthodontics and restorative treatment with flexible, reliable, and easy-to-use CAD/CAM software and digital workflows.

During the LMT Lab Day Event held at Chicago, New York, Arfona made some huge announcements regarding their upcoming updates. Arfona is a New York-based dental tech startup, which was founded in 2016 by several 3D printing enthusiasts and dental technicians, and specializes in thermoplastic 3D printed dental prosthetics. After the 3D printed flexible partial denture, they have now come up with new FILAdent material – a thermoplastic PMMA filament that can be used to 3D print denture teeth when combined with Valplast’s partial dentures. PMMA, or poly(methyl methacrylate), is inert, biocompatible, and easy to obtain, and has been used to make cranial implants previously.

3D Systems, headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, is a company that engineers, manufactures and sells 3D printers and is one of the leaders in field of 3D Printing. Recently at LMT Lab Day at Chicago, they announced a software workflow for 3D printing up to 30 orthodontic models in a single print using its NexDent 5100 3D printer, NextDent Model 2.0 Software, and 3D Sprint software. The new auto-stacking feature will be available in NextDent 5200 users and will make it possible to automatically prepare and place dental models on the build plate with a single click.

Dr. Alfred Griffin, founder and CEO of the LightForce Orthodontics, a Start-up created on the idea of creating Patient-Specific Brackets using 3D Printing, aims at evolving with the Orthodontics industry and provide better innovative ideas in the field. Alfred created a patented system for 3D printed Orthodontic Treatment Brackets, using material nearly identical to injection modelled ceramic brackets, but formulated specifically for 3D printing. It’s a simple three-step digital workflow: scan, create the 3D model, and print. The online interface comes with cloud-based treatment planning software that allows users to make adjustments directly on the model, before the custom 3D printed appliance is shipped in just 7-10 business days after approval.

Voodoo Manufacturing produces and distributes 3D Printed Clear Orthodontic Aligners for direct-to-consumer brands. Now, they have launched Voodoo Clear Aligners, a new dental manufacturing and distribution service, for its first partnering direct-to-consumer brand Smilelove, and expanded its high-volume 3D Printing factory. The Company states that with the addition of Formlabs 3D Printers, they will be able manufacture and ship more than 20,000 unique orthodontic clear aligners each month in the near future. Currently it can manufacture 20,000 aligner moulds a month with its current set-up, which would see around 700 patients receive treatment, but is planning to scale by four times before the end of year, producing 80,000 moulds a month for 2,800 patients.