RAPID PROTOTYPING TECHNOLOGY: BASIC CONCEPTS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN DENTISTRY
Dr. Anirudh Sharma, *Dr. Roma Goswami and Dr. Chandan Kumar Kusum
ABSTRACT
Advent of rapid prototyping technology has opened up new perspectives for design &production in the field of Prosthodontics. Rapid prototyping refers to the automatic construction of mechanical models with 3D printers or stereolithography machines. RP has various dental applications, such as fabrication of implant surgical guides, zirconia prosthesis and molds for metal castings, maxillofacial prosthesis and frameworks for fixed and removable partial dentures, wax patterns for the dental prosthesis and complete denture. Rapid prototyping presents fascinating opportunities, but the process is difficult as it demands a high level of artistic skill, which means that the dental technicians should be able to work with the models obtained after impression to form a mirror image and achieve good esthetics. With new research emerging for molding materials and the forming process of RP techniques, this method is becoming more attractive in dental prosthesis fabrication. Emerging successful implementation of rapid prototyping depicts that traditional prosthodontic practices will be replaced by RP techniques in the near future.
Keywords: Rapid prototyping technology, Prosthodontics, Techniques, Esthetics.
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