Lesson from my with-it dentist on how 3D printing is changing the world

It’s one thing reading how the Fourth Industrial Revolution will change the world. Quite different to experience it close-up.

Saw my first 3D printer in Davos earlier this year, a cumbersome machine that slowly milled away at a block of hard plastic. The result was a souvenir you might put on a mantlepiece. It all seemed very much “out there”. That changed yesterday during a visit to my dentist, a fairly recently qualified rarity who oozes passion about his craft (yes, they exist).

A decade back, after being told about the dangers of heavy metals, I had my teeth’s metal fillings replaced with ceramic ones. It was a lengthy process, requiring at least a week between the temporary fillings and their replacements. That’s how long it took to to get a mould to the dental technician who crafted ceramic replacements by hand, baked them a few times to get the colour right. It was rather costly too.

Yesterday my ceramic filling was moulded on Doc’s premises in eight minutes by his 3D printing machine. He says the complex computerised equipment – a scanning x-ray type-camera, PC and the ceramic mill – is imported from Germany and costs around R1m. The payback is sure to be rapid with the technology benefiting all concerned. Except, that is, the now redundant dental technician.

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