Laser-sintered dentures engineered for optimal performance

可摘局部义齿（RPD）是一种简单而经济的修复体，用于修复部分缺牙患者的缺失牙齿。这种治疗对全世界数百万患者的生活产生了影响，并具有重要的商业意义。在北美和欧洲，超过13%的成年人佩戴RPD，美国的牙科修复产品市场（包括RPD）为110亿美元。 传统上，RPD由铸造合金使用失蜡技术制成，这是一种非常费力的手工工艺，50多年来一直保持不变。基于CAD/CAM技术的激光烧结技术是近年来发展起来的一种新型义齿金属支架加工技术。CAD/CAM技术的上级精度不仅减少了人工加工的人为错误，而且还可以根据最佳生物力学性能定制设计来制备更精确的义齿。 该提案的最终目标是优化RPD的性能。因此，为了实现这一目标并利用麦吉尔团队和3DRPD的专业知识，我们将通过3个主要目标实现我们的目标：优化CAD/CAM RPD的设计、优化CAD/CAM RPD的金属和丙烯酸组件之间的兼容性，以及评估和优化新CAD/CAM RPD的生物相容性。 优化使用CAD/CAM激光烧结RPD的性能可以提高该产品的质量，同时降低制造成本，使更大比例的人群能够获得治疗，并提高患者的生活质量。

Removable partial dentures (RPD) are simple and cost-effective prostheses that are used to restore missing teeth in partially edentulous patients. This kind of treatment has an impact on the life of millions of patients worldwide and has important commercial implication. Over 13% of the adult population in North America and Europe wear RPDs, and the US market for dental prostheses products, which includes RPDs, is of 11 billion dollars. RPDs are traditionally made of casted alloys using the lost-wax technique, a very laborious manual process that has remained unchanged for over 50 years. A new technology for processing metal frameworks for dental prostheses base on CAD/CAM laser sintering has been recently developed. The superior precision of CAD/CAM technologies not only reduces man-made errors of manual processing, but it could also allow the preparation of more accurate dentures with designs customized for optimal biomechanical performance. The ultimate goal of this proposal is to optimize the performance of RPDs. Accordingly, in order to achieve this goal and capitalize on the expertise of both McGill team and 3DRPD will aim at achieving our goal through 3 main objectives optimization of the designs of the CAD/CAM RPDs, optimization of the compatibility between the metallic and acrylic components of the CAD/CAM RPDs, and assess and optimize the biocompatibility of the new CAD/CAM RPDs. Optimizing the performance of using CAD/CAM laser sintering RPDs can increase the quality of this product while reducing manufacturing costs and rendering the treatment accessible to a larger portion of the population, and increasing the quality of life of the patients.