Laser-sintered dentures engineered for optimal performance

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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.