EnvisionTEC Announces 3Shape Partnership, New 3D Printing Materials, New 3D Printer at IDS 2017

Last year, overall sales of dental 3D printers skyrocketed 75% over 2015 percentages. The world’s largest dental show, International Dental Show (IDS), begins today in Cologne, Germany, and we’ve already heard about some of the big announcements, including Structo’s DentaForm 3D printer, and Formlabs’ new dental resins and 3D printing partnership with 3Shape. Well-known for its participation in the dental industry, EnvisionTEC is also announcing a new partnership with 3D scanning and CAD/CAM software company 3Shape at IDS 2017. The power of EnvisionTEC’s trusted Vida 3D printer line, which is introducing a new machine at IDS 2017, will combine with 3Shape’s TRIOS intraoral scanner and Ortho Analyzer software to produce indirect bonding trays. EnvisionTEC also announced that it’s releasing a new material, which will be used to 3D print these trays, so orthodontic brackets can quickly be applied to patients’ teeth.

This isn’t the first time EnvisionTEC and 3Shape have teamed up: the two worked together a couple years ago to 3D print drill guides for dental surgery. EnvisionTEC’s new dental E-IDB material, which doesn’t require any post-processing, will be used to quickly 3D print the custom, flexible bonding trays – the Vida 3D printer is said to manufacture four trays in just 45 minutes. In addition to the print time going down, treatment times are also reduced, since 3Shape’s software can pick the individual bracket, and bracket placement, on each tooth.

“With our new material for 3D printing indirect bonding trays, EnvisionTEC has really taken a leadership role in terms of the flexibility we offer dental labs and professionals with our 3D printers and materials,” Chris Kabot, EnvisionTEC’s dental applications specialist, told 3DPrint.com. “In conjunction with 3Shape software and a Vida 3D printer, orthodontists can now 3D print extremely accurate and flexible custom trays for the fast application of brackets.”

Indirect bonding trays allow orthodontists to put the brackets on a patient’s teeth in half the time that individual bracket placement takes (two hours!). Software used to create these trays will actually determine the position on a patient’s tooth ahead of time – the tray is created in a digital environment, and makes room for the brackets that need to adhere to each tooth. Once off the print bed, the individual brackets are then placed into the tray. The full tray goes into the patient’s mouth, the brackets are properly aligned, a UV light adheres them to the correct teeth, and the tray is then removed.

The E-IDB material used to make the trays isn’t the only new dental material EnvisionTEC is introducing at IDS: its durable E-Model resin, which has been in the development stage for over a year, is a good choice for dentists creating crown, bridge, and thermoformed aligner models. E-Model works with any of EnvisionTEC’s large production 3D printers, like the Vector 3SP. The other new materials being unveiled at IDS this week are:

• E-Dent 400, for direct printing of temporary crowns, roundhouses, and bridges
• E-Guard, biocompatible clear material, for direct production of night guards, retainers, and bite splints
• E-Gum, makes flexible gingiva masks to be integrated into 3D printed dental models

“EnvisionTEC’s flexible E-IDB material finally allows doctors to 3D print their own indirect bonding trays right in the office rather than rely on suppliers. This change gives clinicians more control over their trays, and how tight or loose they prefer them, as well as the entire treatment process,” said EnvisionTEC CEO Al Siblani.

In addition to the new partnership with 3Shape and its new materials, EnvisionTEC will also be showing off its Vida 3D printer line for the dental industry, and offering a preview of its new, high-speed cDLM high-speed 3D printer. After the original Vida was first introduced in 2015, EnvisionTEC’s unit sales shot up 29% in the year following its release. The new Vida cDLM is EnvisionTEC’s second 3D printer based on the company’s patented, high-speed Continuous Digital Light Manufacturing (cDLM). In the second quarter, the printer will only have limited availability, but a full production launch will occur at a later date.

Both the Vida cDLM and EnvisionTEC’s new E-IDB material will be showcased at not only EnvisionTEC’s IDS Booth, but also at its new partner 3Shape’s booth. If you can’t make it to IDS in Cologne next week, don’t worry – all of the new technologies will also be jointly showcased at the end of April, at the American Association of Orthodontists annual session in San Diego. Discuss in the EnvisionTEC forum at 3DPB.com.