3D printing pens are sometimes used when making fun and beautiful artistic endeavors, in addition to for educational purposes, however they’ve additionally proved helpful for medical applications as effectively. A trio of researchers from the KM Shah Dental College and Hospital revealed a paper, “3D Printing Pen: A Novel Adjunct for Indirect Bonding,” about their work utilizing a 3D printing pen to create partial and full switch trays for indirect orthodontic bracket bonding, which takes far much less chairside time than direct bonding.
“The first disadvantage of oblique bonding is incomplete penetration of the curing gentle via switch trays, resulting in bracket bond failure,” the researchers defined. “The first goal in a scientific setting is to reduce the chairside time. This system of oblique bonding reduces chairside time, is economical, makes use of minimal armamentarium, and gives ample gentle penetration and accuracy.”
Oblique orthodontic bonding first took place within the Nineteen Seventies, and funnily sufficient, caramel sweet, which is water-soluble, was used because the adhesive for brackets again then. We’ve clearly come a great distance, shifting to thermally cured composites, sticky wax, and soluble wallpaper paste, till the tray switch system was developed within the Nineties.
“Learn and O’Brien (15) and Learn and Pearson (16) instructed the usage of a clear thermoplastic sheet for tray switch for making the oblique bonding method suitable for gentle treatment composite,” the researchers wrote.
Whereas it’s sooner for the affected person and extra correct, oblique bonding has its personal issues, together with elevated laboratory time, the necessity for an additional set of impressions, and weaker bracket bonds, as a result of incomplete curing of the composite due to partial gentle penetration. That’s why the researchers needed to see if they may use a 3D printing pen to enhance the method, together with in style biodegradable polymer PLA, which is nice for making the switch tray due to its transparency and rigidity.
Laboratory procedures. (A) Markings for bracket positioning and layer of bonding agent utilized on maxillary examine mannequin; (B) Markings for bracket positioning and layer of bonding agent utilized on mandibular examine mannequin; (C) Brackets mounted on maxillary examine mannequin; (D) Brackets mounted on maxillary examine mannequin; (E) Fabrication of switch tray; (F) Fabricated switch tray; (G) Full switch tray; (H) Partial switch tray
The workforce chosen 5 consenting orthodontic sufferers and made alginate impressions of their higher and decrease arches and poured casts of them, which have been then marked for perfect bracket positioning per MBT prescription earlier than having a layer of bonding agent utilized and being light-cured. The brackets have been added and light-cured once more, after one other layer of bonding agent was added for stability. A 3Doodler PRO, set at 210°C and most circulation, was used to assist make the switch trays out of MatterHackers PRO PLA.
“The tip of the 3D printing pen was held in proximity to the brackets; molten PLA was flown in such a method that three margins of the bracket, i.e., mesial, distal, and gingival, remained freed from PLA; nonetheless, it engaged the slot of the bracket and prolonged on the occlusal and palatal surfaces of the tooth. As soon as the switch tray was fabricated, the brackets have been dislodged from the examine mannequin with the assistance of deboning pliers, sustaining the PLA tray intact,” the workforce defined.
The researchers then transferred the 3D printed tray, with the brackets inside, to the mouth, and light-cured it after they decided the match was good. A straight probe was used to take away the tray from the brackets, any PLA that broke within the bracket slot was eliminated with a heated probe, and a tungsten carbide bur accomplished the method, used to take away any residual resin on “the incisal margin of the bracket.” Out of the 5 examine individuals, solely three whole bracket failures have been noticed.
Scientific procedures for oblique bonding. (A) Tray placement on maxillary dentition; (B) Tray placement on mandibular dentition; (C and D) Curing of composite; (E) Elimination of the maxillary tray from the mouth; (F) Elimination of the mandibular tray from the mouth
The workforce didn’t discover another research wherein the brackets have been connected on the examine fashions utilizing a bonding agent as adhesive. It’s a extremely biocompatible materials, and in addition wasn’t affected by the warmth from the molten PLA.
“We used a bonding agent as an adhesive to connect brackets to the examine fashions on this case as a result of it may be utilized on the bracket base and a layer on the forged effortlessly. It additionally varieties a really skinny interface between the bracket base and the examine mannequin, thus growing the accuracy within the expression of bracket prescription,” they defined.
Whereas the 3D printed PLA tray took longer to make than a vacuum-formed thermoplastic one, it match higher and provided good rigidity, along with being simpler to make and manipulate, extra clinician-friendly, resulted in much less chairside corrections, was simpler to take away from the mouth, and provided three surfaces for curing and “optimum bond power.” Plus, when the researchers in contrast their 3D printed tray to different oblique bonding strategies, they discovered that theirs allowed for the elimination of flash—a serious ingredient of plaque accumulation—from bracket bases.
A earlier examine discovered that the common time required for each the laboratory and scientific steps for oblique bracket bonding was nearly 39 minutes, whereas it took rather less than half-hour for direct bracket bonding. On this examine, it took 18.44 minutes for the bonding agent and 3D printing pen lab procedures, and 11.86 minutes for scientific procedures, for a complete of 30.3 minutes—proper in between the common instances for direct and oblique bracket bonding utilizing standard strategies.
Accomplished bonding process
The researchers assessed bracket failure for the 5 sufferers each 4 weeks for a yr, and have concluded that utilizing a 3D printing pen, PLA, and a bonding agent to manufacture full or partial oblique bonding trays is “a exact, easy-to-use, economical, and dependable methodology that reduces chairside time.”
“A 3D printing pen and PLA have been used to manufacture switch trays for oblique bonding which offered us with benefits like ease of manipulation, immense management over the circulation of supplies and the elements of bracket and forged to be lined in PLA, value effectiveness, and transparency. This methodology doesn’t require any costly tools and the supplies getting used are simply transportable,” the workforce concluded.
