Almost every tenth child today has so-called ‘chalky teeth’. A dental laboratory in Hamburg has teamed up with scientists to develop a 3D-printed dental prosthesis.
A lack of minerals leads to ‘chalky teeth’, i.e. damage to the milk teeth. The cause is still unknown. To prevent the jaw from shifting or other teeth from being damaged, dental technician Alexander von Fehrentheil has developed paediatric crowns that are more adaptable than conventional models.
‘With the support of the Chamber of Commerce’s Innovation and Patent Centre, I was able to apply for a patent for the crown made of biocompatible and ceramic-reinforced plastic in 2014. But milling from a block is very expensive. As we also work with additive processes in the production of models, we contacted the Chamber again to see if they could recommend suitable partners. That’s how we came into contact with the IKS,’ says the managing director of Hamburg-based vFM Dentallabor GmbH.
At the first meeting at the IKS Hamburg, it was clear that a collaboration with the Laser Zentrum Nord (now the Fraunhofer Institute for Additive Production Technologies IAPT) could be a good fit for the company. The institute specialises in additive processes – known as 3D printing.
Selective laser sintering (SLS) uses laser beams to fuse specially developed powder layer by layer into a workpiece. With the help of the scientists and the IKS Hamburg, von Fehrentheil received funding from the Innovation Programme (PROFI) of the Investitions- und Förderbank Hamburg (Hamburg Investment and Development Bank IFB).
Materials with the right particle size and a special mixture of plastic and ceramic powder have been developed. The materials must have the right degree of hardness and not be harmful to health. ‘To keep the post-processing costs of the crowns down, we are developing a process that minimises the thickness of the layers to keep the transitions as small as possible. We have been able to purchase an SLS system for this purpose, which is partly funded by the project. It allows us to deposit layers of about 60 microns. If we are successful, a layer will be thinner than a normal sheet of paper,’ explains Arnd Struve, a research assistant and mechanical engineer who was hired for the two-year project.
The dental laboratory has been using an intraoral scanner for a long time to scan the young patients’ dentures. This allows them to send the processed data to the research institute and also avoids unhealthy X-rays and time-consuming impressions.
While the collaboration project allows the company to integrate new technologies, stay ahead of the competition and save costs in the long term, the collaboration allows the scientists to gain insights into a new field, generate new knowledge and improve their work.