How does a 3d printed dental restoration work?

For general dentists and prosthodontists, the practical workflow starts at the intraoral scanner. The scan replaces a conventional impression and enters the lab as a .STL or .PLY file. A technician opens that file in CAD software, designs margins, contacts, and occlusal anatomy, then sends the file to the printer. Print time for a single-unit resin crown runs roughly 15-30 minutes; the longer timeline is post-cure and fit verification, not the print itself.

Material selection drives most of the clinical decisions here. Printed resins are used for provisionals, surgical guides, and some long-term temporaries. Milled or printed zirconia handles final crowns and bridges where strength matters. Some newer photopolymer ceramics are entering the final-restoration space, but as of 2025 milled monolithic zirconia remains the dominant choice for posterior full-arch and implant-supported work because flexural strength data is more established.

Fit accuracy depends heavily on scan quality and CAD calibration at the lab. A well-dialed digital workflow produces marginal gaps in the 50-80 micron range, which matches or outperforms conventional cast restorations. Remakes from scan-to-print pipelines trace almost entirely to poor scan data or skipped design review steps, not to the printer itself. Labs that keep a technician accountable to each case at the design stage catch those errors before the unit ever prints.