How to Prepare Splints before Printing?
Splints are common therapeutic tools in dentistry and a frequent application in dental 3D printing. 3D-printed splints offer high precision, perfectly fitting the patient's dentition to enhance comfort and treatment effectiveness. CHITUBOX Dental, as a professional dental 3D printing preprocessing software, plays a central role in this workflow, ensuring accurate transformation from digital design to physical product. This article will explain the processing steps for splints in CHITUBOX Dental, helping users quickly understand how to handle this type of model.
To learn about processing other application types, you can explore more content in our What to Do Proficiency tutorials. For new users, it is recommended to first read the tutorial What to Do Before Model Preparation in CHITUBOX Dental? in the Primer to understand how to complete initial settings after launching the software, including printer and material selection, print parameter configuration, and model import.
Splints
Splints effectively reduce tooth wear and joint pressure caused by bruxism, providing significant protection for patients who grind their teeth at night. Their core function is to physically isolate direct friction between the upper and lower teeth, reducing tooth wear and the risk of temporomandibular joint injury. Traditional splint manufacturing processes are cumbersome and limited in precision, while digital 3D printing technology, with its advantages of high accuracy, rapid prototyping, and personalized customization, is becoming a mainstream choice in dentistry.
In CHITUBOX Dental, splints can be processed in two ways: using the Auto Process function for quick processing or manually using the toolbar on the left.
Automated Processing
CHITUBOX Dental’s Auto Process function can complete the model preprocessing workflow with one click, helping users efficiently complete the slicing steps for 3D printing. Before operation, ensure the Application in the configuration is set to Splint.
Since splints require a certain thickness to support strength and prevent rapid damage during patient use, hollowing is not necessary. The automated processing steps for splints include: orientation, support, and layout. Users only need to import the model and click the Auto Process button at the top of the interface, and the software will automatically complete all preprocessing steps for the splint. In our testing, processing 10 splint models took only about 15 seconds.
Manual Processing
Users who require more precise control can choose manual processing, modifying parameters in each step as needed. The manual processing workflow for splints is also: orientation, support, and layout.
Orientation
Correct model orientation is crucial for improving print success rates, model surface quality, and ease of support removal. The intaglio surface of the splint, which contacts the patient’s teeth and gums, is the key functional surface determining positioning accuracy and wearing comfort. The orientation principle should minimize supports on the intaglio surface. It is recommended to place the splint with the intaglio surface facing upward, away from the build platform, and adjust it to a slight tilt (approximately 10-15 degrees). The reason for tilting is that while placing horizontal minimizes printing height, it creates slices with larger single-layer areas, leading to greater peeling force between cured layers and the release film, which may cause print failures and make model removal from the build plate difficult.
In summary, the orientation principles for splints should consider the following:
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Protect the Intaglio Surface: Minimize supports on the intaglio surface to ensure smoothness, improving positioning accuracy and wearing comfort.
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Reduce Cross-Sectional Stress: Tilting avoids large single-layer slices, reducing peeling force per layer and stabilizing the printing process.
CHITUBOX Dental’s Auto Orientation function can quickly adjust the splint’s orientation, positioning the intaglio surface upward. Following the basic principles above, after auto-orientation, users can manually rotate models with the same orientation and batch-adjust them to a slightly tilted state.
Support
CHITUBOX Dental’s auto-support function can quickly add suitable support structures for splints. The following principles can be followed when adding supports automatically or manually:
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Secure Base: Ensure the support base area firmly attaches the printed model to the build platform to prevent detachment during printing. Thus, the parameter of The Ratio of the Base Plate to the Model's Projected Area should be at least 100%.
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Cover Overhangs: Provide supports for all overhangs exceeding 30-45° to prevent printing collapse or deformation. For example, if the material is highly viscous or soft, requiring greater peeling force from the release film, supports may be needed for overhangs above 30°. For materials with easier release, supports may only be necessary for overhangs above 45°. To improve print success, manually add supports in low overhang areas to prevent print failures.
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Easy Post-Processing: Use supports with smaller contact points where possible, ensuring they are easy to remove without leaving significant marks.
Layout
CHITUBOX Dental’s Auto Layout function enables compact arrangements. For dental labs, layouts that accommodate more models can enhance production efficiency. For dental clinics frequently printing single cases, centering the layout enables fast and effective printing.
Splints are printed using specific materials, with clear guidelines for slicing and printing parameters. We suggest setting up and printing according to the parameters provided by the material manufacturer.
After completing the previous processing steps, click the Slice button in the lower right corner to enter the slice preview interface and verify that the printer model and material are correct. Once confirmed, click Save to store the file locally or on a storage device for transfer to the 3D printer. For network-enabled machines, use Send to Printer to directly transfer the file and initiate printing.
The above describes our recommended workflow for processing splints in CHITUBOX Dental. If you have alternative insights, feel free to share them with us at marketing@dental.chitubox.com.