I am looking to print a retainer. I have an old one that I’m looking to see if someone can scan it in order to 3d print it. The metal broke where it reaches the plastic and it’ll be $250 for an invisilign (pack of 4). I know 3D printing would be comparibly less. Please help! Thanks for your time, Xtina
Xeno
2
You might be able to have it 3D scanned, but I don’t think it is possible to have the metal inserts inside the 3d print,
unless the metal parts can be placed inside the retainer afterwards.
With a separate mould for casting it might be possible, but still the plastics use for 3D printing and casting are probably not suitable/safe to have in your mouth for long periods of time.
SOC3D
3
The dental industry has been molding and casting retainers for around a hundred years. Pretty sure it’s safe as long as you use a safe material.
You might have better results making a mold in the traditional way. Also, 3D scanning will introduce changes, so it will not be exact. 3D printing a part will also introduce changes from the original part, so it will take experimentation to use digital tools to get a part that is nearly like what you have. The metal piece that broke probably needs to be made out of metal for material performance reasons, plastic just isn’t good for every application. If you have metal forming skills and tools then you can try to duplicate the metal parts as they were prior to them breaking. It would take a person a lot of time and money to create a dental retainer from scratch. You need all of the tools and skills to create it, kind of like making jewelry really.
Xeno
5
Yes, but none of these safe materials can be 3d printed.
