Dan Butterman I had my Form 2 printer delivered last week and it's been so much fun playing with it. This patient presented with fractured teeth @ #20 and #21 with missing 18,19. We decided on a plan to extract the roots 20 and 21, place implants @ #19 & #21 and make a 3 unit bridge. In the past, I would have sent for a Sicat guide or made 2 CG2's, but I want to go over the workflow for a printed guide since I have a new toy.
First, the patient (or a model in this case) is scanned with CEREC and a bridge designed so that I can incorporate my plan into Galaxis with one .ssi file.
The implants are planned in the usual way, including setting D2 and choosing a CG2 sleeve. The CMG.DXD file is then exported in the same way as you would for milling a guide. Since I don't have inlab, I sent this file via dropbox to Frankie at AA Dental and in a day, he converted my file to a .STL file.
In the preform software that comes with the printer, I was able to add supports so that it prints properly (these can be edited away from critical areas).
Once the supports are removes (kind like the sprues on a milled guide), the guide was tried on the model. It really is very easy to remove them.
This entire process took a day and cost about $20 for the stl conversion and about $7 in material. Just another option with a pretty easy workflow. It's also fun to play with!
