The number of installed dental scanners -- both intra-oral and standalone -- are currently estimated to reach 8,800 by the end of 2015, growing to over 100,000 in 2024
The real story driving adoption of 3D printing in dentistry is related to broader acceptance of digital processes in an industry, which has, for decades, been driven by hands-on craftsmanship.
Dentists care for patients and prescribe treatments, but the dental laboratory technicians are the ones who actually spend time crafting the restorations that end up in a patients' mouth. Each technician in a traditional fabrication process has a specific and unique signature that is present in all of his or her work, down to the individual crown.
The practical results of this process are often problematic; a technician's work may not align well with the specifics required for a patient's existing structure or a dentist's expectations. In the past, the need for consistency and predictability would drive dentists to go with one source for all their needs – not just a favored lab, but down to a specific dental tech within a specific lab.
This has many drawbacks across the business process including slow fabrication times, low efficiency, reduction of competitiveness, and long-term workforce shortage as generations of technicians age. Their skills are not easily passed down to younger generations due to the highly artistic skillsets.
Digital processes for both capturing an impression of a patient's mouth as well as producing the necessary restorations and models provide benefits to dentists and patients alike due to their consistent, repeatable, and highly accurate nature. 3D printing is also the best-suited digital production technique for dental components because it is compatible with a wide range of material types for dental applications. It is highly precise even in small components and it is much more efficient than competing subtractive digital production methods such as milling.
As expected, this transition does not come easily; digital technology will take a significant amount of time to become a global standard. However, things are beginning to accelerate now due to a variety of economic and regulatory conditions.
3D printing technologies found an early home in dental laboratories as a partial springboard towards digital by providing an efficient and accurate way to print molds for investment casting. Today, however, fully digital processes are being embraced as they provides a truly efficient production process that is capable of increasing the production capacity of dental laboratories while decreasing hands on labor.
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