Orthodontist uses an Ultimaker in his Clinic

He is a 32 year old Orthodontist in the crazy city of São Paulo and he loves technology. To reduce his lab time and clinical time, he bought an Ultimaker and calls it the best toy ever.

Rafael Vidal explains vividly how he uses the 3D printer for his profession: “I scan my patient’s mouth and create an as-is 3D model in software and an ‘ideal model’ of their teeth. Then we create several 3D models of in-between steps towards the ideal model. The patient gets a new slim plastic coating, created from the 3D model, that will put their teeth in a better position every two weeks. I worked for a long time with this rapid prototyping of 3D models, but I used to pay for this service. Ultimaker combined with a Nextengine 3D scanner provided me a cheaper and efficient way of doing that.

This is better for the patients because the orthodontist can simulate the tooth movement and plan the treatment in the software. Simulations reduces mistakes during the real process and consequently accelerate the treatment.

It was not easy to apply this because I had ZERO experience in home 3D printing. It took me one year from the first contact with the technology to the first patient.”

His best tip for other 3D geeks? “Most of the time the problem is mechanical and not software”