Sanwa brings AM to Japanese dentistry
June 2, 2022
Sanwa Dental, Tokyo, Japan, reports that it is successfully adopting Additive Manufacturing in its dental business, expanding its reach further with the installation of a new AM machine at its laboratory in Thailand. The new machine has been supplied by Profeta, a specialist manufacturer of dental laboratory metal AM machines based in Nanjing Zijin, China.
Using Additive Manufacturing, Sanwa told Metal AM magazine that it has been able to reduce the steps involved in creating titanium frames for dentures from ten to just five steps. By reducing the working hours necessary per frame, productivity has increased by a reported five to six times.
Another benefit of adopting Additive Manufacturing is the ability to realise designs that would be difficult or even impossible using typical casting methods. One such venture was designing dentures with smaller, thinner metal frames, explains the company. This, it says, has enabled wearers to speak more clearly and easily.
Sanwa is keen to expand the use of Additive Manufacturing in dental practices across the region. The company believes that if the Japanese dental industry witnessed more widespread adoption of Additive Manufacturing, high-quality dentures and other dental applications would then be available more readily to many more patients.
