A fully digital workflow for the design and manufacture of a class of metal orthodontic appliances

Abstract

Background: Traditional working procedures requires a lot of clinical processes and processing time. Methods: The orthodontic metal appliances were made by applying oral scanners, digital images, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) printers. Results: The computer digital technology simplified the manufacturing process for dental appliances and shorten the duration for clinical operation and technical processing. Conclusions: The technique described in this paper can guarantee the accuracy of orthodontic appliances and bring revolution the field. Clinical significance: The CAD-CAM technology provides a fully digital workflow for manufacturing metal orthodontic appliances, which saves a considerable amount of labor and material costs, and significantly reduces heavy metal pollution in the working environment of dental technicians.

Keywords

• Digital oral technology
• Digital oral model
• Computer-aided design
• Three-dimensional printing
• Orthodontic appliance