The first dental facility in the region to integrate 3D Printing and in-house CAD/CAM Milling System for dental implant treatments
Singapore, xx September 2013 – T32 Implant Centre is leading the way to incorporating a full range of digital dentistry capabilities into its strategic business model, transforming workflow processes to one that is significantly more rapid and productive, while raising the bar for quality, precision and safety standards.
In recent years, digital dentistry has been creating a huge impact on mature markets such as Western Europe and is beginning to pave way for the dental industry in the South East Asia region to meet rising demands for more sophisticated restorations and better aesthetics.
Dr Wong Keng Mun, Managing Director of T32 Dental Centre, says, ‘As the leading dental facility in Singapore, we are constantly developing effective ways to improve our dental expertise, technology and workflow structure. With the introduction of 3D printing and CAD/CAM capabilities, we seek to expand our digital dentistry footprint in the region, and we are confident in delivering a more holistic and efficient range of dental solutions for our patients.’
With a combination of digital technology including the 3D Computed Tomography (CT) scanner, 3D treatment planning software, 3D Printer, 3D intra-oral scanner and Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) system, T32 Implant Centre is set to effectively eliminate the bottleneck of traditional manual modelling and drastically accelerate treatment processes.
To facilitate a comprehensive and detailed overview required to ensure the precision of implant treatments, T32 Implant Centre has invested close to S$400,000 acquiring the following digital dentistry equipment:
- Stratasys Eden Objet 3D Printing System which prints dental implant guides after the design stage
- Zirkonzahn CAD/CAM System 5-Tec, an advanced system to mill dental prosthesis from 3D images
- Swissmeda SMOP, a 3D implant planning software to design the guide for implants based on 3D images acquired
- Intra Oral Scanner which takes images of teeth from within the mouth
- Facehunter, a software that allows projection of the end-result, e.g. for orthodontics, patients can see how they would look after treatment is completed
Investing in digital dentistry technology and 3D printing benefit both dentists and dental implant patients
The capabilities of the digital equipment enable dentists to extensively plan for treatments prior to the surgery, allowing critical decisions to be made beforehand. The treatments can also be completed in a much shorter period of time and the waiting time for surgery appointments is dramatically lessened. This eases the anxiety of patients while bringing much convenience particularly to those who require emergency treatments or are travelling from overseas. More importantly, digital dentistry equipment promise greater precision and accuracy which minimizes the possibility of hurting the patient’s nerves during the procedure and substantially reduces post-treatment complications.
On top of streamlining workplace processes at T32 Implant Centre, these technologies work together in ensuring safer and more efficient dental treatments, while lending assurance to the minds of patients. With a strong dedication to improving oral health and enhancing the emotional well-being of every patient, T32 Implant Centre continues forging new frontiers and revolutionizing the way people look at their dental treatments.
About T32 Dental Centre:
T32 Dental Centre is committed to providing impeccable service, cutting edge technology and exceptional levels of care to its patients. T32 provides complete dental care in Singapore to patients locally and the region, providing access to exceptional dental expertise, technology and facilities. From child to advanced corrective or aesthetic dentistry, T32 has a dental specialist that is right for everyone. The team includes Chinese and Malay speakers, as well as Australian, US and UK dentists for expatriate patients, who might prefer a dentist from their home country. The dental team is highly trained; continually refining their skills and expanding their knowledge to incorporate the latest techniques in dentistry which translates to the benefit of patients to continually receive cutting edge consultation and treatment.
For more information, please visit www.t32dental.com.
Appendix
What is Digital Dentistry?
It refers to a digital workflow process involving the use of 3D Computed Tomography (CT) scanner, 3D treatment planning software, 3D Printer, 3D intra-oral scanner and Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology in the field of dentistry.
Why 3D Software?
Traditionally, a 2D X-ray scan is incapable of diagnosing whether a patient’s jaw bone density is sufficient to support a dental implant surgery. Dentists could only find out during the surgery itself, causing patients to have inadequate time to decide on whether to proceed with a bone grafting procedure.
The 3D CT scanner and software turn things around by essentially aiding pre-treatment planning to digitally place dental implants. By revealing the vital anatomy and bone quality; the suitable type and size of dental implants; and the exact angle and orientation required, dentists will have a detailed plan in place and critical decisions can be made prior to the surgery.
Why 3D Printing?
Even with a 3D scan and 3D treatment planning, it still takes the expertise of the surgeon to place the dental implant accurately by freehand.
With Stratasys Eden Objet’s 3D printing technology, a prototype with a light-sensitive polymer resin material is rapidly produced. Using this physical dental implant stent or guide, the dentist is able to eliminate trial and error, and place the dental implant with pin-point accuracy. This reduces the duration of the surgery while ensuring higher levels of safety and efficiency.
3D printing in dentistry offers advantages in the following areas:
- implant dentistry (as described above)
- Reduction of storage space as teeth and jaw models can be scanned and archived digitally rather than having to store physical copies
- Creation of Temporomandibular (TM) joint models for accurately diagnosing and consulting patients with TM disorders.
- Creation of mouth guards, stents and slints
- Reduction in cost of laboratory procedures
Why Intra-Oral Scanner and CAD/CAM Technology?
Intra-oral scanning enables dentists to capture multiple 3D data sets of a patient’s mouth, and review the scan simultaneously to ensure that all essential data is accurately captured while the patient is still in the chair. This produces precise measurements for the lab to design the best-fitting prosthesis.
The prosthesis is then milled at T32 Implant Centre’s in-house laboratory using the Zirkonzahn CAD/CAM System 5-Tec which comes with a computer-driven 5-axes milling unit and a fully automated optical scanner. The swift transmission of digital data allows the lab to download the 3D data set in less than an hour and begin to design and mill the prosthesis on the very same day. By eliminating the need to chemically treat and transport traditional impressions between the dental centre and an external lab, the turnaround time for the preparation process is effectively halved. Quality and precision is also significantly improved as the lab does not need to manage the inaccuracies, ambiguous features or other possible discrepancies on an impression.