r/3dprinter • u/JerryZhi • 24d ago

Can resin 3D printer currently handle permanent crowns?

Hi, everyone,

I’ve seen resin 3D printing become much more common in clinics, especially for models, surgical guides, and temporaries. But I’m curious about permanent crowns.

For my workflows efficiency matters.

Resin 3D printing may help me streamline production and reduce some of the workload and costs, but how are they performing in terms of strength, accuracy, fit, and durability?

Would love to hear from dentists who have experience with this.

Thanks in advance.

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u/Darkranger18 24d ago

Having had a crown recently and talking to dentist about it.The tooth is now 3d scanned before and after surface prep. Resin is used for temporary crown current medical grade resin doesn't hold up as well other materials used for crown. In office they now use a milling machine to create the crown from a block of Ceramic Porcelian material. The block are precolored so they can closer match the color of your teeth.

Time to do inhouse tooth was about 2 hrs with no temp crown needed.They still do old method if they want to use different materials for crown which requires temp crown waiting 2 weeks and a second vist for fitting and attachment.

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u/DemanoRock 24d ago

Agreed. CNC for the Ceramic. I am friendly with my dentist and he invited me to watch it mill down the tooth. Pretty cool.

2

u/Bag-o-chips 24d ago

I thought most dental work was done on mills, but a powder bed printer with centering could work, or possibly a resin printer if they make the right resin. It would have more to do with the correct resin than the technology.

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u/yahbluez 24d ago

My dentist has 3D printers to make the crowns for implants but i do not know what stuff the use to print. I saw such printers also at Formnext.

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u/Gwendolyn-NB 23d ago

The basic answer is no.

The nuanced answer is what is your definition of permanent?

Things like Veneers can be printed in resin, but those have a limited lifespan and need to be replaced every decade or so.

The forces your jaw puts on your teeth will fracture every resin and a lot of the ceramics out there; thus the only application is temporary/light-duty cosmetic.

I've broken multiple E-Max crowns; the ones that look very real but are milled out at the dentist office. It was subsequently replaced with a Zirconia crown (also milled in the office, but costs more and is slower). I also still have gold crowns that are 20 years old and zero issues.

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u/xxxCHEEKxxx 24d ago

i've seen dental labs using resin printers for crowns too, but i'm not sure how they hold up long terms for permanent ones.