A trip to the dentist might start looking very different, thanks to 3D printing technology. 

 

Dr. Alan Jurim is the director of digital dentistry at Touro College of Dental Medicine in Hawthorne.

 

He says crowns used to be made by hand.

 

"Digital dentistry has allowed us to take that process and completely transform it. We do a digital design on a screen, and once we have that design created in 3D, we then have the ability to take that design and now send it to a machine, either a 3D printer or a milling machine to physically produce that restoration," he says. It's not just crowns, bridges and dentures that can be created using a 3D printer. Dental aligners are also made using a 3D printer.

 

"Now we have materials that we can 3D print a permanent crown for a patient, and it's the innovation of the materials that's really driving the industry forwards," says Jurim. 

 

Something that used to take weeks is now a matter of hours, thanks to the new technology. 

 

"We have the ability, while the patient is waiting in the dental chair to take this immediate digital information we captured and produce for them their personal restoration all in one visit," says Jurim.