Sprint Ray Digital Printer

A lot has changed since the days your grandfather first went to the dentist. Materials and techniques have vastly improved and the entire patient experience is now built around ease and comfort. Like many other industries, dentistry has gone digital. We use digital scanners instead of impression material in trays and we use 3D printed models instead of plaster ones. This allows us to be extremely accurate in all of our dental work and has made poorly fitting appliances and prosthetics a thing of the past.

3D printing is the catalyst for digital dentistry. It’s known for reliability and high quality. Much has changed since the first desktop 3D printers became available to the dental industry. A few years ago, 3D printers were only affordable to the largest dental labs, now they are a common sight in labs and practices of any size. Dental 3D printers feature a light or laser that polymerize a liquid with the computer-guided precision required to produce small objects with intricate details.

The dental 3D printing workflow has four-steps:

Scan – collect a digital impression with an intraoral scanner. Send the scans to a lab or to a design station.
Design – import the digital scan into design software (CAD) and design.
Print – once designing is complete, import the file to print preparation software for print setup.
Prepare – wash, dry and post-cure printed parts.

What can a 3D printer make?

Dental 3D printers can produce applications such as:

Crown/Bridge Models
Clear Aligner Models
Surgical Guides
Splints/Occlusal Guards
Patterns for Casting and Pressing
Hawley Retainers
Full Dentures

At Love Your Smile Today we are proud to be utilizing a state of the art digital printer in the Sprintray 3D. This technology has changed our practice and we are excited to be on the digital forefront and bring the benefits to our patients.

You may see these machines in our waiting room – take a look, exciting things are happening there!