How to Evaluate 3D Printing Solutions
Accuracy and Precision
Guaranteeing high-quality final parts is the most important concern for a dental practice or lab. The three best measures to take to protect yourself from buying inaccurate equipment are:
• Be skeptical: don’t trust what companies say.
• Judge accuracy benchmarked on final 3D printed models, not on technical specifications.
• Order sample parts and judge accuracy and precision for yourself.
Manufacturers may try to confuse prospective customers with misleading statements and technical specifications. Most commonly, they masquerade layer height, laser spot size, or pixel size as “accuracy,” even though these specifications do not have a direct impact on accuracy of final parts. While most companies refer to a single number for accuracy (e.g., 50 microns or 75 microns), these are typically marketing gimmicks, and most commonly represent the limit of resolution of the printer.
Fundamentally, a printer’s accuracy and precision are defined by how well calibrated all of its systems are, so a system can only be judged on its final printed parts. Desktop optical scanning allows for the comparison of the organic shapes of printed dental prosthetics to the STL that was sent to the machine. Scans of printed models are scored in terms of the percent of points within a given distance from the nominal point on the STL (e.g., 80 percent of points within ±50 microns).
Ease of Use and Reliability
How easy a 3D printer is to use, and how reliable it will be in production are also important considerations. After all, your team is going to have to learn how to use the equipment and maintain it on a daily basis. Try to get a sense of the learning curve that will come with a new 3D printer by watching videos online, visiting a trade show, contacting sales, or asking colleagues about their experience.
Think carefully about the equipment’s setup requirements. Some newer printers are designed intuitively enough to start printing straight out of the box. Other more complicated machines require a service technician to be present during setup.
Pay close attention to the types of everyday interactions and maintenance the printer will need once it is up and running. Automatic resin dispensing, available on select SLA machines