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Materializing! What Can Dentists Do With 3D Printers?

- Gunpreet Oberoi, Sophie Nitsch, Michael Edelmayer, Klara Janjic, Anna Sonja Müller, & Hermann Agis

A variety of 3D printers are available, mainly differing in the source of light and the material used for 3D printing. There are three main steps of 3D printing. The first step is to obtain a digital 3D image of the object to be printed, using various types of 3D scanners. Then, this digital information must be converted into a form easily understood by the 3D printer, called an STL. This is done using computer software. At this stage, we can design the future object on the computer. The last step is to send this STL file to the printer so that the 3D model can be printed. Keep reading to find out about some ways that dentists have been using 3D printing to provide better oral care for their patients.
For surgeries of the face and mouth, the dentist can use 3D imaging and scanning to get the information to make a 3D digital model of the region that will be operated on. These models make it easier to examine all the parts of the face or mouth.

License information: CC BY 4.0
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Go to source: https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00088

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