Dental

When it comes to the surgical treatment of complex bone defects caused by trauma, removal of tumors, infection or due congenital causes, the 3D printing of bioceramics offers the level of design freedom needed to achieve a perfect fit – such as with this hydroxy apatite zygomatic implant.

Via lithography-based ceramic manufacturing, both pore size and geometry can be tailored for optimal osteoconduction and osteointegration. The microporosity of these implants can also be defined by controlling the sintering parameters, adjusting the parts to the specific needs of each patient to achieve the optimal healing result.

Bone atrophy (i.e. missing bone volume) in the jaw can be a result of improper or deferred replacement of missing teeth. As it prevents the treatment with dental implants, it is necessary to reconstitute the missing bone volume with suitable bone replacement materials. The best option is treatment with a 3D-printed bioresorbable augmentation.

Using LithaBone materials for 3D-printed bone augmentation have the advantage of a perfect fit and volume stability compared to conventional treatment options, which are commonly granulates, produced from animal sources.

At KLS Martin, who has been a major user of 3D-printed bone replacement implants since 2015, the new Lithoz material made a strong impression right away: "We've already had the opportunity to work with HA 480, and the results are outstanding: from the mechanical properties to the higher wall thicknesses to the size of the lattice structures, LithaBone HA 480 has convinced us of being a significant improvement over its predecessor." - Adem Aksu (Head of Biomaterials Development at KLS)

Ceramic surgical tools show significant advantages compared to conventional metal tools. Higher endurance, electrical insulation and no metal debris are just some of them, causing increasing demand. With Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing (LCM) 3D printing of high-performance ceramics unlocks previously unachievable properties – not only in complex geometry, but even more in terms of productivity.

These burs for applications like orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, CMF-surgery up to dental use made of Alumina-toughened Zirconia (ATZ) perfectly illustrate the limitless possibilities opened up via combining 3D-printed cutting geometries with the hardness and durability of ceramics. Over 100 burs can be built in one print run, while thanks to the ultra-precise material dosage of the Lithoz CeraFab System S65 Medical 3D printer almost no material is wasted, resulting in minimal production cost per unit, from single piece to series production.

Dental implants are used as the basis for replacing teeth. With LCM technology, it is possible to manufacture even the most complex implants in large quantities with a high degree of precision while keeping costs low thanks to the highly efficient use of materials.

Zirconia or lithium disilicate are the materials of choice for crowns, dental bridges and veneers. Both can be processed with LCM to achieve perfect results with unparalleled fissure quality, feather margins up to 100 μm and significantly minimized manual finishing.

This endosseous dental implant can be used as a basic abutment to replace a missing tooth. With LCM technology, implants can be shaped in a very complex way. Existing standard designs (see illustration) can also be mass-produced with high strength and geometric fidelity.

Dental implants manufactured with LCM technology exhibit excellent surface quality even without post-processing ("as-fired"). The material used, 3 mol%-partially stabilized zirconia (3Y-TZP), offers excellent strength without compromising on aesthetics. Of course, materials such as ATZ (alumina-reinforced zirconia) and ZTA (zirconia-reinforced alumina) are also suitable for dental implants. Read article.

Critically large bone defects can be the result of severe trauma, such as comminuted fracture of the jaw or bone resection due to bone tumors. The challenge in treating such large defects is that the bone itself is unable to heal the defect without appropriate measures. Here, we present a dual approach in which both the cage made of high-strength zirconia, which adequately supports the healing phase, and the inner volume of the implant made of bioresorbable beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) are fabricated in a single 3D printing process.

The figure shows a use case in which β-TCP can be resorbed by the cells and replaced by newly formed bone. The zirconia cage can be left in place due to its excellent biocompatibility. 

Silicon nitride offers an exceptional combination of biocompatibility, antibacterial effect and maximum mechanical strength. With ceramic 3D printing, the limitations of using a milling drill for traditional machining no longer exist.

With the CeraFab System S65 Medical printer, which has been specially optimized for medical applications, and the use of the LithaNit 782 material, it is now possible to additively manufacture patient-specific dental implants and internal threads in series and with exact reproducibility.