UK-based Stratasys reseller SYS Systems has reported a 350% surge in sales in the dental market compared to last year.
According to SYS, it is working with an increasing number of clinics and laboratories across the UK to install Stratasys J5 DentaJet printers for the production of applications like dentures. 3D printed dentures, the reseller says, deliver 'unrivalled aesthetics and functional results in half the production time.'
Stratasys' J5 DentaJet machine is compatible with the patented TrueDent CE-marked resin that is said to boast durability and a capacity to print multiple tooth and base shades simultaneously in a single full-colour, monolithic structure.
Installing machines at a rate of one every two weeks, SYS Systems believes it may well be the leading distributor in Europe for the J5 DentaJet system.
“Additive manufacturing is revolutionising the way we make things, and the dental market is the latest to switch on to the benefits,” said Matt Fulton, Managing Director of SYS Systems. “It’s a real win-win for dentists and labs. The 3D printed prosthetics are versatile, highly durable and deliver the best aesthetics – all achieved in half the time it takes compared to the traditional route. Stratasys’ J5 DentaJet is the most advanced printer in this space and, when you combine it with the TrueDentTM resin, it’s not a surprise that demand is soaring in the UK and Ireland. In fact, I think we’re leading the way when it comes to sales of this machine in Europe.”
Prime Dental Laboratory was one of the early adopters of the J5 DentaJet system and TrueDent material, with the company producing some of the first J5 DentaJet in partnership with SYS Systems. The company says the adoption of 3D printing has had a 'profound impact on both clinical outcomes and productivity.'
Co-owner and Clinical Dental Technician Tim Jackson said: “From the start of my career, I worked completely analogue, and I would set everything up by hand. In more recent years, we have invested heavily into the digital side of dentistry and have seen a big change with dentists wanting to use it as well. Digital dentures have sometimes been a little brittle in the past – not this TrueDentTM material, which I believe is the best printer resin on the market, surpassing everything I could have imagined strength-wise, as well as aesthetics. For example, we’ve thrown it down the corridor and even stomped on it and it’s unbreakable.
“Speed has also been important. Creating using an analogue method, we found that 18 dentures would take us around 12 hours to make. Doing the same process digitally, we went down to about six hours, and - now we've got the J5 DentaJet™ - we can knock another hour off that just on post-processing those dentures as well.”
