Stratasys' 3D printer presets optimize dental implant planningStratasys' 3D printer presets optimize dental implant planning

Anyone who has spent as much time in a dentist's chair as I have—poor dental hygiene in my youth coupled with French dental technology in the 70s and 80s has been a goldmine for my current dentist—will welcome any development that shortens the visit. Not for the first time, 3D printing comes to the rescue. Stratasys (Minneapolis) has announced that optimized manufacturing presettings for its Objet30 OrthoDesk and Objet Eden 3D printers have been added to the latest release of 3Shape Implant Studio Implant Planning and Surgical Guides Design software. The software combines implant planning, prosthetics, and drill guide design to provide a cost-efficient solution that saves chair time and improves patient experience, the company said in a press release.

By combining CBCT scans with 3Shape's TRIOS digital impressions, dentists can achieve accurate implant planning and produce high quality prosthetic devices. The newly added presettings for the Objet line of 3D printers enable 3Shape users to generate an STL file optimized for Stratasys' dental 3D-printing systems.

The collaboration between Stratasys, which manufactures 3D printers and materials, and 3Shape Implant Studio enables the production of accurate surgical guides while refining additional 3D printing solutions, said Avi Cohen, Director of Global Dental, Stratasys. By accelerating implementation of the digital dental highway for dental labs worldwide, the collaboration brings mass customization to small and mid-sized labs, he added.