Cameron Kelly explains how investing in printer technology has transformed case acceptance, reduced turnaround times and strengthened clinical partnerships.
After running traditional digital light processing (DLP) printers for several years, investing in the Stratasys J5 Dentajet has fundamentally transformed our approach to complex prosthetic and surgical cases at Ambridge Ceramics. Of course, the accuracy is phenomenal, but the real breakthrough for us has been the dramatic reduction in labour hours.
Parts come out of the printer fully cured and dimensionally precise, eliminating manual post-processing and adjustment tasks that eat up technician time. When we print stackable surgical guides, for example, the components literally snap together as soon as the support material is washed off. That level of precision simply wasn’t achievable before, and it’s allowed us to take on cases we might have outsourced in the past.
Replicating complex surgeries in-house
Being able to recreate surgery in the lab has made a real difference in how we work with dentists. We recently had a case requiring tooth extractions and bone reduction in the mandible, where we needed to be very aware of the nerve.
I used third-party software and Grab CAD to separate out the different elements – the teeth that come out, the bone sections and the nerve pathway. Then I printed a model using Truedent resin. I used clear resin for the soft tissue and different colours for the teeth, bone and nerve, so you could actually see all the anatomy.
We could remove and review the different elements with the dentist, which made the whole conversation much clearer. Instead of just looking at scans on screen, we had the actual guide in our hands to walk through the procedure. Our previous equipment couldn’t do anything like this, and it’s definitely strengthened our relationships with the practices we work with.
‘Instead of just looking at scans on screen, we had the actual guide in our hands to walk through the procedure’
From design to delivery
I won’t pretend the CAD work is quick – it still takes time to design these cases carefully. But once that’s done, the manufacturing side is straightforward. The unattended overnight print takes around four to five hours, and when I come in the next morning, I simply wash the support material off with water, and the parts are perfect and ready to go.
What that means practically is we can give realistic turnaround times without worrying about having to reprint things or spend hours adjusting the fit. It makes planning our workload much easier.
For any lab doing surgical guides or complex work, the time you save and the extra cases you can handle make a real difference.
To learn more about Stratasys solutions for your dental lab, click here.
This article is sponsored by Stratasys.
