Digital fabrication of removable partial dentures made of titanium alloy and zirconium silicate micro-ceramic using a combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies
ISSN: 1355-2546
Article publication date: 19 November 2020
Issue publication date: 8 January 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a new design for removable partial dentures (RPDs) for partially edentulous patients to improve the efficiency and quality of RPD manufacturing. Additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies and zirconium silicate micro-ceramic bonding in the aesthetic zone are used herein.
Design/methodology/approach
A case was presented. First, RPD digital definitive casts were acquired, and then digital frameworks with crown retainers and digital crowns were obtained by computer-aided design (CAD). The titanium alloy frameworks and resin crowns were fabricated by three-dimensional (3D) printing and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) processes, respectively. The crowns adhered to the crown retainers. Ceramage bonding was used to reform the gingival anatomy in the aesthetic zone during the fabrication of the RPDs. The finished RPDs were assessed by a clinician and delivered to the patient.
Findings
The RPDs were conventionally assessed by a clinician, were deemed to be accurate and satisfied both the patient and clinician.
Originality/value
This novel method provides a way to fabricate RPDs with a combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies. The design of the framework was different from that of a conventional framework because it contained the crown retainers, and the traditional base retainer no longer existed. Ceramage bonding was used to replicate the gingival anatomy in the aesthetic zone. The new RPDs provided accuracy and were less time-consuming to produce than those produced with the traditional method. The new method enables the digital manufacturing of nearly the entire RPDs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Key Research & Development Program of China (2018YFB1106902), Key Research and Development Plan of Shaanxi Province (2020ZDLSF04-06) and Program of National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases (LCB202007).
Dr Yan Zhang and Kai Li contributed equally to this article and should be considered co-first authors; Dr Bo Gao and Jiang Wu contributed equally to this article and should be considered co-corresponding authors.
Citation
Zhang, Y., Li, K., Yu, H., Wu, J. and Gao, B. (2021), "Digital fabrication of removable partial dentures made of titanium alloy and zirconium silicate micro-ceramic using a combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 93-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-02-2020-0040
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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