5Ws* Flexcera Digital Dentures

Compiled by Noah Levine | Information provided by Desktop Health

What: Flexcera™ digital denture materials

Who: Desktop Health

313-436-4300 | desktophealth.com

Where: Any dental practice or dental lab with compatible EnvisionTEC™ 3D printers.

When: Whenever a patient is in need of dentures, especially if they need them right away.

Why: As the patient population continues to age, the need for removable prosthetics continues to grow. Flexcera was designed to meet this growing need by providing a rapid solution that doesn’t sacrifice when it comes to key physical properties. The 2 Flexcera resins—Flexcera Smile for printing denture teeth and Flexcera Base for printing denture bases—are formulated for use with EnvisionTEC 3D printers and feature 3 times the fracture resistance and twice the moisture resistance as other 3D printing resins used for denture fabrication.

The How: When developing the new denture materials, Desktop Health worked through more than 200 formulations before finalizing the Flexcera chemistry and receiving US Food and Drug Administration 501(k) clearance. The materials feature long-chain chemistry, which is said to enhance the physical properties of the printed dentures—including lifelike translucencies. Up to 8 Flexcera dentures can be printed in less than 2 hours, making it possible to deliver dentures in 1 day.