Digitally designed casting ring and sprue system - a contemporary approach to the casting process in dentistry

Abstract

The current paper aims to present a new casting approach in dentistry by eliminating some conventional preliminary procedures and digitalising the process as much as possible.The experiment uses six digital crown patterns. They are aligned with each other and to the wall of a virtual casting ring. Then a digital sprue system is created. The object alignment and sizes are revised, and the optimal correlation is set. Finally, a single virtual object is created and is 3D printed of light curing acrylic resin suitable for casting, invested, and cast.The castings that are achieved have good quality and no defects. At the same time, the virtual designing and aligning of the patterns and all the components of the sprue system and casting ring save much time and allows better precision to be achieved. All these facts allow better control of the casting process results, making the process faster, more predictable, and more accurate.The limitations of this study concerns pattern selection. It is well-known that the acrylic resin sublimates and expands massively during a temperature rise, which may cause mould fracture. This obstacle is very representative as solid objects with higher volumes are examined. This may enforce alignment revision or even temperature rate modification.Suggested approach will be very useful for daily dental laboratory practice by optimizing the working time of the dental technician, making the denture production process faster, more predictable, and more accurate. As a result, the process optimizes the working process in dental offices, by allowing shortening the time of each visit and treatment plan terms.Presented approach reveals some new opportunities for dental technicians to substitute the conventional raw stages of sprue system fabrication with digital planning and designing. This allows dental technicians to take advantage of the full potential of digital technologies.