3D printed and polished osteotomy guide for dental implants.

Desktop Metal’s Desktop Health brand has announced the expansion of its metal binder jet technology to dental labs.

The additive manufacturing company has launched a turnkey solution based on its Shop System alongside a new chrome cobalt material option that will enable 3D printing of custom dental products and surgical guides.

Referencing the Shop System’s ease of use, high productivity, and surface quality owed to its software interface and hand-removable sintering setters, variable build sizes up to 16L promising production rates of hundreds of customised parts per day, and single pass printhead with 1600 native DPI, Desktop Health says the Shop System will “drastically” reduce labour time and costs for dental labs.

“We are excited to introduce the Shop System and chrome cobalt for binder jetting to the dental community, expanding our suite of best-in-class 3D printing solutions from photopolymers to metals,” said Michael Jafar, President and CEO of Desktop Health. “We are uniquely positioned by offering dental labs not only a leading photopolymer platform, but also a turnkey solution to produce metal appliances and surgical guides with superior surface finish in higher production volumes compared to laser-based 3D printing systems.”

The company says the Shop System is able to print up to 32 partials in less than four hours. By reducing post-processing and providing high throughput printing, the machine is also said to drive down part costs for custom dental applications to as low as one-third of the cost compared to comparable part quantities on laser-based 3D printers.

“3D printing of metal parts for dentistry can finally see an efficient solution with binder jet technology from Desktop Health,” said Christopher M. Silvoy, DMD, an expert in dental implants and a diplomate of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists (ICOI). “The Shop System allows a simple and safe process for producing accurate appliances with an extremely well integrated system and workflow. With a large build volume and fast build times, the system provides an opportunity to eliminate outsourcing, increase quality of outcome, and potentially change dentistry.”

Desktop Metal launched its Desktop Health business back in March to focus on dental, orthodontic and otolaryngology markets, leveraging the company’s existing metals portfolio and polymer technologies acquired via its takeover of EnvisionTEC in January. Since then, the company has announced the approval of a number of dental-focused resins and acquired Phonograft, a technology that is being developed for use in an implantable device for repairing damaged eardrums.

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