Key Dental Deliver More than 2,100 Orthodontic Models per Month with NXD 200
Key Dental Technologies is a full-service digital laboratory that provides orthodontic clear aligners MyOrthodontist, North Carolina's biggest network of family orthodontic clinics with 13 brick-and-mortar sites and a mobile clear aligner van. KDT also provides orthodontic clear aligners to a number of general dentists in North Carolina.
In addition to a full selection of braces and retainers for adults and teens, MyOrthodontist offers transparent aligners, most notably the FDA approved and patent pending MyClearALIGN! clear aligner system made possible by the NXD 200.
Advantages
Producing 20 models every 30 minutes.
Extreme accuracy and fine feature detail
Large build plate enables high throughput
Edge-to-edge uniformity and accuracy
Challenge
"We receive patient scans from our client offices so that we can design the best treatment plan for them," Cristina Montiel, laboratory technician at Key Dental, explains. "I need to print 20 models per patient," she added, stressing that as the business expands quickly, the practice's multiple 3D printers may face tremendous demand. The importance of speed, throughput, and precision cannot be overstated.
Previous 3D printing solutions, such as ETEC (Formerly EnvisionTEC) and Formlabs, provided the accuracy and definition required for aligner models, but lacked the speed and high-volume capacity required by Key Dental Technologies to achieve higher throughput critical to aligner manufacturing.
Solution
Key Dental Technologies prints dental models with BASF's xModel 2505 resin and Nexa3D's Lubricant Sublayer Photo-curing (LSPc) photopolymer printing technology on a Nexa3D NXD 200 Dental 3D printer.
"For me," Montiel says, " the NXD 200 has higher definition and is faster [than our other 3D printers]." As a result, we only utilise that printer to make aligners since we need them to be as precise as possible. The accuracy of 3D printed models is critical for accurate aligner fitting on patients." Key Dental has four assorted brands of 3D printers in its lab, but Montiel believes that "it can be faster for me to send everything to the NXD 200, even if I have to wait in a queue [for the machine to be available]," thanks to its ultrafast print speeds.
I will always choose the NXD 200 because of the high definition, plus it's faster, has a greater capacity, and it's cost effective.
Cristina Montiel, Laboratory Technician at Key Dental
Montiel can cut her prime time from hours to minutes by running up to 12 print jobs per day and creating more than 120 models in an eight-hour shift. This boost in speed and throughput has been important in addressing MyClearALIGN's! continually expanding demand. With the NXD 200, Key Dental Technologies can produce more than 2,100 orthodontic models per month from a single printer.
She also mentioned that the NXD 200 has "an incredible level of detail compared to other printers." "I will always choose the NXD 200 because of the high definition, as well as the fact that it is faster, has a larger capacity, and is more cost effective."
To obtain desired patient outcomes, dependable and highly accurate 3D printed model source, such as the NXD 200, is required. Dr. Larry Moray, President, and Founder of MyOrthodontist adds; "We exclusively utilise KDT's Clear Aligner product MyClearALIGN! for all our clear aligner cases and have found this product to be excellent in achieving our goals and love the personal and professional touch and quick turnaround that KDT is able to offer in great part as a result of their NEXA NXD 200 3D printer!"
For more information on NEXA 3D, please contact our local Dynagraph representative.