In the US, about 72 million adults, roughly 27% of the population, do not have dental insurance.
these feel good stories just make me sad.
He’s only slowing down the orphan crushing machine
We don’t have dental insurance because most practices don’t accept most dental insurance. It is a problem on both ends.
Accepting insurance means being at the whims of the insurance companies for what treatments are allowed and how they are performed. Rejecting insurance means practices are in full control over the services they provide but it also means people can’t afford it. Dentistry is highly complicated so many practices decide to take full control to give patients the best care possible, but it also means the services are highly unaffordable to many.
It is so fucked. I don’t understand why insurance is allowed to dictate what service people are entitled to instead of the doctors, and I don’t understand why insurance doesn’t pay a penny for out of network services on some plans. If you were gonna pay up to $200 for in-network treatment why won’t you cover at least that much for out of network treatment?
Capitalism is a bitch.
I wish they would have gone into more technical detail about the scanning and printing processes, materials used etc. I’m imagining plastic teeth with the layers separating
Dental 3D printing is a different beast from consumer printers. The dental printers are already certified to actually create regulator approved devices that can go in a patient’s mouth.
Resin 3D MSLA printing. It’s how they make invisaligns, the shape is one piece of plastic. You can buy dental application resins.
I imagine it’d make more sense to print a mould and cast the teeth.
It might be also potentially dangerous for bacteria build up because of space in between layers. 3D printed stuff is certainly not safe for food.
3D printed stuff is certainly not safe for food
Neither are ceramic dishes if you don’t wash them with soap.
The printers in the video do not look like extrusion printers, but on the other hand, the resin used in other type is carcinogenic as hell as far as I remember.
the resin used in other type is carcinogenic as hell
if you drink the uncured resin. Orthotics are 3D printed this way, as are Invisaligns, all kinds of medical implants.
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/products-and-medical-procedures/3d-printing-medical-devices
Pick your poison, eh
they probably also need to account for patients differences in individuals mouth, teeth, jaws that correctly fit.
he starts by 3D scanning the mouth of the patient, or an imprint.
This is a cool use of 3d printing!
if only they could do crowns too, which are usually around 1-2k/tooth even with "insurance’, thats why ROOT canals are expensive. crowns are half the cost.
Both can be unnecessary and eventually lead to a dead tooth that will require an implant.
