3Shape Leans Into Artificial Intelligence Innovations With 2024 Product Updates

As 3Shape Senior Vice President for Product Strategy Rune Fisker announced his company’s 2024 slate of innovations and updates at Lab Day Chicago artificial intelligence (AI) and connectivity were the dominant themes.

Explaining that cases completed using 3Shape TRIOS intraoral scanners increased by 53% last year, and a TRIOS scan is now captured every 1.3 seconds, Fisker said 3Shape is focused on continuing to make dental lab scanners and software that enhance efficiency and improve outcomes for labs and clinics. The updates announced at the event included enhancements to the company’s Lab Management Software platform, expanded capabilities for the AI-powered Automate digital design service, and AI-focused updates to Implant Studio, Model Builder Express, and more.

Designed to provide dental labs and their clients with an efficient, integrated workflow and communications portal, 3Shape LMS (Lab Management Software) is now available with features designed to improve case ordering, tracking, and customer communication. Fisker describes the customer portal as providing dentists with, “a modern consumer style online experience.” The full version of 3Shape LMS is now available, and the company plans to launch a free version of the software in the second half of 2024.

Fisker said he is most impressed with the company’s update to the Automate Design Service that can now provide AI-produced custom crown designs for anterio cases, as well as the previously available molars and premolars. The solution which can also be used to generate AI-created nightguard designs, is available as an app on the 3Shape Unite store, and can generate designs within minutes that can then be sent for in-office production on mills or 3D printers.

Fisker says the Automate service boasts a 94% crown design acceptance rate, and is changing the clinical CAD/CAM workflow from a step-by-step process to one where an AI solution completes the steps and the clinician simply reviews and corrects the output.

Another update for chairside users is the new connection between the 3Shape Unite platform and the Dentsply Sirona DS Core Platform. This new solution allows clinicians to connect TRIOS scanners to Dentsply Sirona Primemill and Primeprint production solutions.

The AI workflows announced by 3Shape include the new Model Builder Express for labs which includes standalone dies and uses AI to generate a model proposal for users to inspect and correct where needed. Default design settings can be customized, and a trimming toggle makes model adjustments quicker. Additionally, an update to Implant Studio uses AI to analyze the jaw and automatically create an outline for a full-coverage surgical guide.