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█ Dental Technology: Laser Melting with Metals (LaserCUSING)
Digitization in Dental Technology
Fresdental: CAD/CAM manufacturing center for
dental laboratories
Using
additive
manufacturing
technologies
of
dentures
for
in
an
industrial
effective
process chain
Lichtenfels (Germany) January, 19th, 2015: Dental laboratories are facing a digital
upheaval. Until now, hand-cast, machined and refined dentures have been the
mainstays of dental technology for dentists. Increasingly, however, laser-melted
implants, abutments, crowns and bridges are being used in the dentistry field.
The Fresdental manufacturing center in Spain is one example of the digital
industrialization of dental technology that is changing the face of dentistry.
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Fresdental works with dental laboratories as a manufacturing center for the industrial
production of implants, bridges and crowns. It was founded in 1999 near Alicante. As a
service provider for dental laboratories, Fresdental can manufacture custom-tailored
dentures very quickly. The cornerstone of Fresdental’s business is implants, which
account for approximately 70% of its sales. The company documents this experience in
a specialized database known as the “Implant Library.” Dental technicians all over the
Spanish-speaking world are very familiar with Fresdental: its customers include over
240 dental laboratories across the Iberian Peninsula and South America. The company
uses conventional denture production methods like 3-axis DSC milling machines and,
since 2005, CAD/CAM techniques such as laser melting of metals. Fresdental also
supports dental laboratories in the production of 3D models for intraoral scanners.
Industrial level combines efficiency and quality
Of the 11 total machines in the 840m 2 production space, two are from the digital age:
“Our two Mlab cusing laser melting systems from Concept Laser are an example of the
increased use of advanced CAD/CAM methods in dental technology,” explains denture
engineer Francisco Perez Carrio, also noting that CAD/CAM technology in dentistry
arrived early in Spain. For Carrio, the reasons for this are clear: the more affordable
price, the ability to produce multiple dentures in a single building job on a single building
board, and the high rate of speed to arrive at the final product are key benefits.
However, the technology also earns points for its low energy consumption, material
reuse, absence of tool requirements and reduced staff costs. “We can actually produce
more dental products with fewer people,” says Perez Carrio. “Compared to traditional,
manual-production-based dental laboratories, digital manufacturing is extremely cost-
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efficient and offer enormous advantages in terms of quality. The cost of producing an
average denture is around 20 euros. With LaserCUSING, it drops to slightly less than 10
euros. Basically, we’re talking at least half the price. As an industrial manufacturing
center, we see ourselves as a service provider of choice as well as an extension of the
dental laboratory. Laser melting of metals is a logical expression of digitization in
production, which allows us to achieve the highest quality standards. Laser melting is
the future – there’s no escaping it.”
High accuracy and delicate design
Fresdental specialized early on in highly complex geometries. And it’s in this area, with
its wide-span designs or orthodontically embedded implants, where the free-form
process scores major points. “In terms of fit, geometric freedom or delicate
constructions, the technology provides new opportunities for dental technicians and
dentists,” explains Perez Carrio. “Basically, it allows us to create designs that better
benefit the patient. The additively constructed designs are superior to conventionally
produced dentures in both performance and durability. “The additive structure allows
safe ceramic veneering, such as through innovative ceramics. Surface faults that occur
with casting, such as bubbles, are non-existent with laser melting. With rapid
manufacturing methods like laser melting, the lab can select the most functional and
affordable dental prosthetic solution based on the customer's needs, be it crowns and
bridges, frameworks, abutments, primary and secondary structures or implant supraconstructions.
Industrial manufacturing with full process parameter control
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The type of material selected, according to Perez Carrio, depends on the application.
The trend is toward flexibly insertable, transparent and tooth-colored materials. The
LaserCUSING process makes it possible to economically produce caps, bridge
structures, abutments, cast parts, as well as primary and secondary structures from
powder. In addition to mechanical equipment, the alloy powder used is essential for a
high-quality prosthetic framework: The composition, powder form, grain size and grain
size distribution determine the quality and precision of the parts produced. “For us, it’s
important to be able to influence all the process parameters during the construction
process,” says Perez Carrio. “This lets us define and customize not only the geometry,
but also the density, stiffness and elasticity or modulus of the final product as desired.”
Another factor is the combination of module or multi-component construction. Base
elements implanted into the jawbone are used as primary structures. An additively
manufactured foundation element is then put into place as a secondary structure, onto
which a secure, durable veneer such as HeraCeram is applied. Manufacturing
companies like Fresdental have many years of experience as pioneers in production
technologies and are considered digital experts in the orthodontics industry.
Strategies for reducing tension
This advanced technology not only allows bridges with more than 10 sections, for
instance, to be manufactured tension-free in a one-step process, it also allows their
increased use in high-impact areas, as cantilevers, around edges or with brace elastics.
With model casting, that’s not always an easy problem to solve. Tension in the
construction is reduced through heat treatment. This includes tension that occurs when
the rough product is fired in the ceramic oven for cosmetic coating purposes. “There are
many different methods for reducing tension, even if we still need training in some of
them,” adds Perez Carrio.
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Future trend: digital process chain
A continuous digital process chain is the next step in the laser melting for dental
technology. Intraoral scanners are therefore high on the priority list for Fresdental. The
reason is simple: Intraoral scanners, used by dentists to generate primary digital data,
can be used for digital generation of STL design data. “The continuous digital process
chain from the patient to the dental product will accelerate data migration both in terms
of quality and speed. Intraoral scanners will soon become standard in dentists’ offices.
Laser melting of metals is a logical expression of digitization in production. Laser melting
is the future – there’s no escaping it,” says Perez Carrio.
Reprint permitted – copy requested
End of the press release (followed by additional modules to choose from) -----------------------
I. Interview:
Francisco Perez Carrio, Denture Technologist (Fresdental)
Editor: Why do dental laboratories need a downstream manufacturing center?
Perez Carrio: The majority of dental laboratories work very locally with dentists. In
manufacturing and finishing, many options come into play, and not every lab can offer
every process. For CAD/CAM techniques, implants and highly complex geometries,
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local dental laboratories enjoy working with an industrial service provider like Fresdental
as an extension of their production operations and as a partner. The high efficiency,
speed and affordability of laser melting benefit the entire supply chain.
Editor: Is this integrated process chain a trend?
Perez Carrio: Yes, and it’s fast-growing. Dental technology is currently undergoing
radical changes. These changes are affecting products, customer requirements and
business processes. Digital process networking is linking dentists, laboratories and
dental manufacturing more closely than ever and putting everyone involved under
pressure to act. The entire process chain, from impression-making to prosthetic
restoration, is undergoing a dynamic transition—a trend away from casting or milling
and toward digital, additive manufacturing.
Editor: How are additive processes changing denture design?
Perez Carrio: Denture design is changing dramatically. Milled frameworks in particular
have significant disadvantages due to material consumption, high production costs and
system-related lower quality in terms of fit and shape retention. During casting, we also
encounter disadvantages in terms of low material density, geometric freedom,
production time and rework. Nearly all of these disadvantages disappear with laser
melting. Stiffness and elasticity can be tailored to the needs of the patient. In the case of
geometry, span width or braces, the technology improves the performance of dental
prosthetics enormously. It not only allows bridges with more than 10 sections, for
instance, to be manufactured tension-free in a one-step process, it also allows their
increased use in high-impact areas, as cantilevers, around edges or with brace elastics.
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In model casting, that's not always an easy problem to solve. Printed dentures are more
versatile, offer increased performance, higher quality and can be produced industrially
and cost-effectively. CAD/CAM methods are technological advances that offer better
quality of life.
Editor: Is milling or casting still an option for dental laboratories?
Perez Carrio: Absolutely. It sounds strange, but in the future dental technologists will
have a “hybrid” way of thinking: milling and casting where desirable but with additive
manufacturing as a top alternative. “Adding instead of taking away” is the motto. The
casting process, from creating the cast object to the finished product, is usually very
time consuming and can lead to distortion, especially with large-span restorations.
Additive processes let us ensure greater contour accuracy much more easily than
milling and use a lot less material. Our workplaces in dental technology are also cleaner
thanks to CAD/CAM: less dust, less bonding agent, glue and outgassing. Ultimately, the
deciding factor is quality. Compared to casting and milling, additive printing processes
are creating entirely new ways of thinking in terms of design, production, workflow and
the products themselves.
Editor: Why did you choose the Mlab cusing system from Concept Laser?
Perez Carrio: It all started back at the 2005 IDS show. We compared several machines
and put each of them to the test. No other machine produced the desired results. The
Mlab cusing is a very compact solution based on the drawer principle. Switching
materials is therefore no problem. For us, being able choose from a variety of materials
based on the specific purpose of the product is also important. Concept Laser, and
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Dentaurum as well, are very actively involved in the validation and certification of
materials for the dental industry. As a reputable company that manufactures health
products, we like to work with other industry-recognized companies as well. Mlab cusing
also gives us direct influence over process parameters, which can be very important in
terms of product quality.
Editor: What developments do you expect in the medium term?
Perez Carrio: A continuous digital process chain comes to mind. Conventional dental
impressions can’t be the only analog alternative. Intraoral scanners, used by dentists to
generate primary digital data, can be used for digital generation of STL design data.
This ensures a better fit and largely eliminates data collection errors. The continuous
digital process chain from the patient to the dental product will accelerate data migration
both in terms of quality and speed. A high-quality intraoral scanner costs dentists today
about 15,000 euros. Prices will fall over time. Intraoral scanners will soon become a
standard in dentists’ offices. Laser melting of metals is a logical expression of
digitization in production, which allows us to achieve the highest quality standards.
Laser melting is the future – there’s no escaping it. In the long term, however, that is
unavoidable.
Quality
assurance
and
documentation
needs
will
make
open,
manufacturer-independent data transfer an increasingly critical requirement.
Editor: Will laser melting continue to grow in importance?
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Perez Carrio: Quality requirements and price indicate so. Dental technologists who
don’t convert to digital solutions will run into serious problems in the future. The future of
dental technology will most certainly be digital.
Editor: Thank you for talking with us.
II.
Phase of additive manufacturing using laser technology in dentistry
Once the 3D CAD data is complete, the support structures are set up with the help of a
data processing software. Different software solutions are available for this purpose,
such as CAMbridge or Autofab Mlab, which allows manufacturers to set specific
measurements for dental implants. With Concept Laser systems, the customer is able to
choose freely and is not bound by any software. The processed data is then transmitted
to the machine via the network or USB port and the construction job is started. With this
process, you can finish a project fully automatically overnight. Once complete, the
components are removed from the building platform and refinished. After manually
removing the support structures, the surface is then microblasted with aluminum oxide
and, in the case of bridges, the crown edges are thinned down. The support structures
are manually removed and the denture refined with a handpiece. After about 2-3
minutes, the denture is ready for shipping, or for veneering at Fresdental or in the dental
laboratories. This time-saving process is appreciated by dentists and patients alike:
within two days – essentially the time it takes to manufacture and ship the product – the
denture is ready to be inserted at the dentists’ office.
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III.
Fresdental facts and figures
•
Manufacturing center for dental laboratories
•
Year founded: 1999
•
Products: Implants (70% of sales) and crowns + bridges (30% of sales)
•
In-house implant database
•
22 employees
•
840m2 production area
•
11 machines
•
Customers: over 240 dental laboratories
•
Regions: Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Peru and Chile
•
Sales: EUR 1.5 million (2013)
IV. Mechanical characteristics of laser melted dental products
Yield strength RP0.2
Tensile strength Rm
Elongation at fracture
A5
ISO 22674
Type 4 min.
ASTM B348
Grade 23
360 MPa
2%
759 MPa
828 MPa
10%
LaserCUSING®
characteristics (after
recommended heat
treatment)
950 MPa
1005 MPa
12%
Figure 1: Mechanical characteristics (Source: Dentaurum, Ispringen, Germany)
V. Advantages of laser melting of metals compared to other metallurgical
processes in dental technology
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 Material savings
 Energy efficiency
 Decentralized production
 Time savings (faster development and production)
 No tooling costs
 Certified original materials with corresponding material properties
 Construction flexibility for process-oriented designs with higher performance
profiles
 Density and elasticity adjustable to improve performance
 Tension-free components through heat treatment
 Lower staff requirements
 Quality advantages
 Delicate designs
 Comprehensive documentation and quality assurance
Reprint permitted – copy requested
Captions
█████████████████████████████████████████████
Caption 1: Francisco Perez Carrio, Denture Technologist (Fresdental): “Laser melting of metals
is a logical expression of digitization in the production, which allows us to achieve the highest
quality standards. Laser melting is the future – there’s no escaping it.”
Caption 2: Digital service provider: CAD working stations at Fresdental
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Caption 3: Preparation of CAD data using 3D models on the computer
Caption 4: Mlab cusing laser melting system at Fresdental
Caption 5a+b+c: Abutments, Crowns and bridges manufactured by Fresdental using laser
melting technology (dental parts with supporting structures on base plate)
Caption 6: Bridge construction from Fresdental
Caption 7a+b+c: Abutments
Caption 8: CAD representation of an implant
All image sources: Fresdental
Concept Laser at IDS 2015
█████████████████████████
Booth number: Hall 10.1 Booth B34
March 10-14, 2015
Contacts ████████████████████████████████████████████████████
Concept Laser GmbH
An der Zeil 8
D-96215 Lichtenfels
Germany
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Phone :
+49 9571 1679 - 0
On the web:
www.concept-laser.de
Press Officer:
Daniel Hund
Phone:
+49 9571 1679 - 251
E-mail:
d.hund@concept-laser.de
Fresdental Innovación y Manufacturas S.L.
Calle Mayor, 41, 43, 45, 47
E-03749 Jesús Pobre (Alicante)
Spain
Phone:
+34 965 756 616
E-mail:
info@fresdental.es
On the web:
www.fresdental.es
About LaserCUSING®
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Keyword: LaserCUSING®
The LaserCUSING® process is used to create mechanically and thermally stable metallic
components with high precision. Depending on the application, it can be used with stainless and
tool steels, aluminum and titanium alloys, nickel-based superalloys, cobalt-chromium alloys or
precious metals such as gold or silver alloys.
Procedures
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With LaserCUSING®, finely pulverized metal is fused using a high-energy fiber laser. After
cooling, the material solidifies. Component contour is achieved by directing the laser beam with
a mirror deflection unit (scanner). Construction takes place layer by layer (with each layer
measuring 15-150 microns) by lowering the bottom surface of the construction space, then
applying and fusing more powder.
Concept Laser systems stand out due to their stochastic control of the slice segments (also
referred to as "islands"), which are processed successively. The patented process significantly
reduces tension during the manufacture of very large components.
Concept Laser Overview
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Concept Laser GmbH is based in Lichtenfels, Germany. Since its founding in 2000, it has been
a leading innovator in the field of laser melting with the patented LaserCUSING ® technology
across many industries.
The term LaserCUSING®, a combination of the C from CONCEPT Laser and the word FUSING
(to fully melt), describes the technology: the fusing process generates components layer by
layer using 3D CAD data.
The method allows the production of complex component geometries without tools to create
parts that are difficult or even impossible to achieve through conventional manufacturing.
With the LaserCUSING® process, conformal cooling can be used to create tool inserts as well
as direct components for the jewelry, medical, dental, automotive and aerospace industries. This
applies to prototypes and series parts.
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The company offers both standard systems and custom concepts for metal laser melting. With
Concept Laser, full-service as an option means that customers can either purchase their own
metal laser melting systems or rely directly on service and development services.
Laser machining systems from Concept Laser process powder materials made from stainless
steel, hot work tool steels, cobalt-chromium alloy, nickel-base alloy as well as reactive powder
materials such as aluminum and titanium alloys. Precious metals such as gold or silver alloys for
jewelry making are also an option.
LaserCUSING® offers new perspectives in terms of cost and speed for efficient product
development in industries such as:
•
Medical and dental technology
•
Aeronautics and space industry
•
Tool and mold construction
•
Automotive and racing
•
Mechanical engineering
•
Jewelry
The systems reduce development time and costs substantially while offering much greater
flexibility in product development.
The high quality standards, level of experience and successful track record of Concept Laser
guarantee reliable and cost-effective solutions with proven performance in daily production, with
a particular focus on unit cost reductions.
The art of LaserCUSING® by Concept Laser
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Ideas for laser melting with metals in the following areas of application: automotive and
motorsport, aerospace, medical and dental technology, tool and mold construction and
machine engineering.
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