3D Printing with a Difference

Highlights from our discussion on the Planmeca Creo™ C5 3D printer with Walter Renne, DDS

With the increasing importance of digital dentistry workflows, companies are expanding their offerings in imaging, software, and 3-dimensional printing to meet the technology needs of today's practices. Planmeca, a well-known producer of many technologies, has introduced the Planmeca Creo^™ C5 3D printer to round out its comprehensive digital workflow options.

Walter Renne, DDS, had an early opportunity to use this printer in practice and agreed to speak to Inside Dentistry's Product Talk about its features. As the assistant dean of digital dentistry and innovation at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, Renne has ample experience assessing the practical performance of technology. The addition of the Planmeca Creo C5 printer, he says, allowed him to accomplish more work than he was able to do before.

"Open platforms have become the standard, and Planmeca was one of the first companies to truly embrace that concept," Renne says. "The others are still trying to catch up. The ability to be completely open is a major advantage because you're not limited and forced into one direction; therefore, you can be truly creative in what you do."

The Planmeca Creo C5 3D printer offers high-speed printing to support specialty procedures for dental implants and surgical guides. This all-new printer can create surgical guides or dental models in less than 15 minutes and produce up to five full-arch dental models in one print. In addition, the Planmeca Creo C5 uses LCD Photomask technology to create a uniform layer of light on a liquid crystal display, virtually eliminating imperfections when printing dental appliances.

"With the ultra high-resolution LCD screen, we're able to shrink the x-y resolution down to about 45 μm," Renne says. "A number of common DLPs are only about 75 or 78 μm. With the Planmeca Creo C5, you get really crisp margins on your preparations and really nice detail."

Another innovation of the Planmeca Creo C5 is its use of resin capsules that have a QR code specific to each resin, eliminating the potential for confusion and the need to enter resolutions manually. In addition, the capsules prevent waste and cross-contamination because the equipment calculates how much resin is needed for each print.

"When the printer reads the QR code, it automatically sets the parameters for the resin so that you don't have to do any thinking or any tinkering with the resin profiles," Renne explains. "Another benefit of the Planmeca Creo C5's capsule system is that it's really clean. There's no mess when dealing with resins, and it helps ensure that you're not going to damage the printer. It's so powerful that it can print a model in 8 minutes. Guaranteeing that you're putting the right proprietary resin in is essential for that process."

The final advantage is that the Planmeca Creo C5 is simpler to use than other printers. It does not require calibration, features an easy-to-use touch display with preprogrammed settings, and uses open STL and PLY files for seamless integration. "It's a problem in the 3D printing industry that there's potentially a lot of work involved in getting a good print," Renne concludes. "Planmeca has streamlined that process and made it completely user-friendly and plug-and-play. No z-axis calibration is needed, and that's something that is truly unique."

Walter Renne, DDS, is an associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Dental Medicine. He is a renowned professional in utilizing CAD/CAM technologies in dentistry and has instructed courses in CAD/CAM dentistry, prosthodontics, and esthetic dentistry.

Notable Features

LCD Photomask technology for high resolution and extraordinary precision
Resin capsule dosing of medically approved resins
No calibration needed
Easy-to-use touch display with preprogrammed material settings
Open STL and PLY files for seamless integration
Compact design
Self-cleaning

To hear more from Renne about the benefits of using the Creo C5, watch the entire Product Talk discussion online at:
www.insidedentistry.net/go/product-talk-s2-e2

For more information, contact:
Planmeca USA
Planmeca.com/na
630-529-2300