Custom fabrication of try-in wax complete denture

Abstract

Purpose

The use of removable complete dentures is a selectable restorative procedure for edentulous patients. To improve the fabrication quality and efficiency of removable complete dentures, this paper aims to introduce a new method to fabricate customized wax complete dentures with additive manufacturing. This process uses complementary digital technologies, and allows faster and better manufacture of complete dentures.

Design/methodology/approach

In the study, a dental scanner was used to obtain surface data from edentulous casts and rims made by the dentist. A parameterized three-dimensional graphic database of artificial teeth was pre-established. Specialized computer-aided design software was used to set up the artificial dentition and design the esthetic gingiva and base plate. A selective laser sintering machine was used to transfer the data from stereolithography files into a wax base plate with location holes for each artificial tooth.

Findings

Under this method, a set of wax base plates with 28 location holes available for the placement of the artificial teeth were designed and fabricated within 6 h. The try-in wax dentures fitted the patient’s mouth well, besides occlusion relationships. Then, the occlusion relationships can be adjusted manually to achieve a balanced centric occlusion.

Originality/value

This method can be used to design and fabricate wax try-in removable complete dentures semi-automatically and rapidly; however, the algorithm for the occlusion contact design needs to be improved.

Citation

Yuan, F., lv, P., Wang, P., Wang, Y., Wang, Y. and Sun, Y. (2016), "Custom fabrication of try-in wax complete denture", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 539-543. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-09-2014-0129