3D ceramic printing service launched

With a minimum thickness of 3 mm, the material is far from ready for use in fabricating dental restorations, but French 3D printing service Sculpteo recently added ceramics to the materials available from their production center. The 3D printed ceramic crown might still be a long way off, but this certainly seems like a step in that direction.

Launched in 2009, Sculpteo operates as a general 3D printing outsource provider for rapid-prototyping and one-off model production. The company accepts 3D model designs submitted via the Internet or an iPhone/iPad app and produces the finished 3D products in a range of materials. The ceramic material joins the company's previously available range of colored plastics, resins and even a silver coated material.

Printing at Sculpteo is done on a range of 3D printing systems that should be familiar to the dental lab industry with printers from eos, 3D Systems and Objet being put to use in their shop. The company's business model is built around delivering finished products to customers, and the new ceramic material is glazed with a bright color and fired after being printed.

3D printing is finding its way into a range of production industries, and the pace of development and implementation seems to be quickening. While the current state of 3D printed ceramics is relatively rudimentary when compared to what can be done with a traditional lab ceramic system, it's not too hard to imagine a time when dental ceramics can be printed to full contour with all the internal details and translucencies incorporated into the digital design.

For more information on Sculpteo click here.

For specifications on their 3D printed ceramic material, click here.