The 3D printing system aims to make chrome cobalt more accessible to dental labs while enabling the customization of dental parts.
Industrial 3D printer manufacturer Desktop Metal has announced that its health care subsidiary, Desktop Health, will be offering brand-new binder jet 3D printing technology solutions for dental laboratories as part of its growing dental technology portfolio. The company introduced two new binder jetting products: the Shop System, a turnkey metal 3D printing solution and chrome cobalt for dental applications. The addition of these products to the Desktop Health lineup is aimed at making 3D printing technology more accessible to dental labs, as well as providing more extensive design customization for dental appliances while still delivering on build quality and resolution.
The Shop System is a metal binder jetting system that enables mass customization for various dental applications, including surgical guides. It was initially designed for the efficient and cost-effective production of complex, end-use metal parts in serial batches. However, the opportunities presented by the system have now enabled users to leverage the system’s capabilities in mass-producing different dental appliances. According to Desktop Health, the Shop System can print up to 32 partial dentures in less than four hours—faster than its “nearest competitive system,” which prints up to 10 partial dentures in approximately nine and a half hours.
The Shop System is equipped with the software, hardware and materials required across the entire binder jetting process, including build preparation, printing and sintering. It has a simplified software interface and includes software-generated hand-removable sintering setters. In addition, the system eliminates the need for machine programming found in the traditional CNC milling process that is utilized when manufacturing metal dental components. Desktop Health also states that reducing post-processing, coupled with high-throughput printing, can ultimately bring down the cost of custom dental application parts.
The Shop System can print in various build sizes up to 16 liters and offers a single-pass print carriage that can produce metal parts 10 times faster than legacy 3D printing technologies. The single-pass printhead has 1600 native DPI and provides approximately 400 percent higher resolution compared to legacy binder jetting systems. In addition, a 5x nozzle redundancy enables more reliable and consistent print quality. Dental technicians can expect to print dense, complex parts that feature fine detail and high-quality surface finish.
The Desktop Health Shop System is now currently available for dental lab use. According to the company, the chrome cobalt material has already been qualified for use in the system and is currently pending FDA clearance. It will be available for commercial purchase once it receives the go signal.
Desktop Metal first launched Desktop Health in March 2021 as part of Desktop Metal’s commitment to developing 3D printing and biofabrication solutions for personalized medicine. Besides the dental industry, it also services a variety of other medical clients thanks to several acquisitions the company recently completed. Among these include the $300 million acquisition of EnvisionTEC, which provides ready-made 3D printing solutions for dental, jewelry, and biofabrication markets. Desktop Metal has also recently been working to acquire 3D printing dental prosthetics company Flexcera Base and 3D bioprinting technology developer PhonoGraft.
For more information, visit the official Dental Health website.
