There’s No Mistaking: Kulzer’s DLP Printer Ends Misprints and Saves Time

A technological breakthrough that improves both quality and efficiency

John Perry, CDT

A big reason for the growth and nearly 40-year longevity of Perry & Young Dental Lab is our obsession with quality. In fact, we received the prestigious Deming Plus Award for our devotion to quality improvement. We absolutely hate making mistakes, which is why Kulzer's new cara Print 4.0 3D digital light projection (DLP) printer is the perfect printer for our laboratory.

We purchased several stereolithography apparatus (SLA) printers recently, and we've been frustrated by their inconsistency, high rate of misprints, and slow speed. In contrast, we haven't had a single misprint in the 2 months we've had our cara Print 4.0. It can print a surgical guide in 25 to 30 minutes compared to 2+ hours for the SLA. What's more, with the cara Print 4.0 our surgical guides rarely have to be seated or modified; they fit perfectly, straight out of the printer.

Another huge benefit to the cara Print 4.0 is its uptime. It's always operational, whereas our SLA printers seem to constantly need maintenance or new parts. The DLP technology lets us deliver reliability to our clients so they can deliver reliability to their patients. If we don't get a perfect surgical guide on time to an oral surgeon performing an implant, the practice has to either cancel the surgery or risk a compromised outcome by proceeding without the guide. That would be disastrous for the patient, our client, and ultimately our business.

The cara Print 4.0's combination of speed and reliability has already helped us avoid disaster on several occasions. It's also a great feeling to be able to come through on a customer's urgent request that other laboratories would consider unreasonable.

There's been a lot of talk about getting onto the "digital highway," but at our laboratory we refer to it as the "digital wagon train." People who expect their new digital technology to work beautifully after simply plugging it in and turning it on are usually in for a bumpy ride. That said, incorporating the cara Print 4.0 was surprisingly easy. We turned it on for the first time, connected it automatically to our Wi-Fi network, and immediately started printing. It truly is plug-and-play ready.

In addition to printing surgical guides, we use our cara Print 4.0 for custom trays, base plates, castables, model verification jigs, and implant placement jigs. Incorporating DLP printing technology into our workflow has allowed us to achieve significant savings in technician time and reduce our overall cycle times for products.

For its combination of reliability, accuracy, and speed, the cara Print 4.0 is highly recommended.

Key Takeaways

• DLP printers have a significantly lower misprint rate than their SLA counterparts.
• DLP printers are also dramatically faster than SLA printers.
• A laboratory with a DLP printer can offer fast turnaround times that other laboratories can't match.
• DLP printers can fabricate surgical guides, custom trays, base plates, castables, model verification jigs, and implant placement jigs.

About the Author

John Perry, CDT
Chief Operating Officer
Perry & Young Dental Lab
Aurora, CO

Manufacturer Information
Kulzer
kulzerus.com
800-431-1785