Investigations on crown fabrication using additive manufacturing for veterinary applications

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) is widely employed in different industries to make miniature to comparatively large parts (through assembly) to meet the productivity and availability of customized components, specialized environmental equipment, rapid tooling, etc. Various customized orthoses and prostheses are fabricated by using different ranges of materials and AM techniques as per the industry standards. Though automation and digital fabrication are widely adopted for cost optimization and standardization, metallic dental crowns (DC) are still fabricated by less efficient and manual conventional methods. Investment casting (IC) and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) are commercially established technologies for the manufacturing of DC and implants in the case of humans as well as veterinary patients (VP). But hitherto, little has been explored about the comparison-based fabrication of strategic teeth (ST) crowns for veterinary applications through AM routes. Ni-base alloys and stainless steel are some of the low-cost high strength alloys used for various research applications, including biocompatibility. The difference between the CAD and fabricated part dimensions based upon lower and upper limits (for DMLS and IC parts of different compositions) outlined that DMLS is a better solution. Also, the corrosion rate and thermal stability of DMLS parts are better controlled than the IC parts. But from a mechanical loading and morphology point of view, IC parts are better than the DMLS. From the techno-economic point of view, the IC route is considered an effective route toward low-cost manufacturing of DC and waste management.