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Mastercam Dental


mr801
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I have been using Mastercam for the last decade in a jobshop and aerospace environment. I have a few contacts in the dental industry and have asked questions as to the needs of dental Cnc programmers but didn't know if my skill set would translate into the dental field. I am assuming that the skill set as a programmer would translate over to the dental field. Seeing how I am basically doing the same thing as a dental lab, but on a larger scale. Am I correct? And is there a need? I know these are general questions, but this will help me decide if I could easily move in that direction will some ideas I have been kicking around.

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My dentist has a little 5X CNC mill he uses to machine crowns

The whole thing is a self contained unit.

He doesn't really program the toolpaths, he manipultes the digital

data to look like the crown he wants and the code is generated

automatically.

It takes about 45 minutes start to finish and one of his crowns

is about $300 cheaper than the old way.

An added benifit is that you're done in one visit instead of

2 or 3.

I don't see any reason you couldn't use Mastercam for this.

Once you had your post dialed in and a template of toolpaths

built, it would be straight foward.

It would be hard to compete with my dentist's automatic

package though. His machine/software package automates

the entire process. from measuring the patient's mouth

to machining the tooth.

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I've looked into this also.

My nephew and niece are both dentist. I've gone to some shows and they have some pretty neat tools to do this with.

A complete setup with software and machine was about 100grand. The whole process would take around 45mins. This would include a digital scanner for the mouth.

 

I didn't think I would be able to compete with the setup, plus you need to have an understanding of tooth margins.

 

Let us know how it works out.

 

Rob

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I have been doing quite a bit of research about this. It seems like that the dental industry has streamlined the making of crowns, caps, implants, etc to specialized machines that have their own software to run them. Will knowing a cad system help? I'm sure, but the knowledge of the dental industry is probably a must. I have no idea about how to design occlussions and abutements but yeah I could make anything I have a solid model of. I would still like to pursue something in this field, even though I have no dental expierence. Does anyone know if you need to have a license to have a dental lab? I was just curious, because you see a lot of machines like the DMG 5 axis Ultrasonic 20 Linear that is built around small parts; ie, crowns, veneers, the implant screws. I would think that you would use a Cad system to program them, because after all, they are just parts. If anyone has expierence with this I would be interested to hear what they have to say about it.

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Last time I needed a crown, the guy I went to had the whole setup as well. All this guy did was specialize in crowns and implants. I told him what I did for a living and then started asking him a few questions about file formats and how the part was programmed and this guy didn't have a clue about what I was talking about. I'm thinking this is probably like a FBM situation and that the software is probably proprietary to the machines.

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Last time I needed a crown, the guy I went to had the whole setup as well. All this guy did was specialize in crowns and implants. I told him what I did for a living and then started asking him a few questions about file formats and how the part was programmed and this guy didn't have a clue about what I was talking about. I'm thinking this is probably like a FBM situation and that the software is probably proprietary to the machines.

 

I asked my dentist how long it took him to learn to program and run his crown maker.

 

He told me it was a 3 day training session.... so it must be pretty much automated.... cause you sure can't

 

train up a 5X programmer in three days :D

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My dentist has this setup. Very intuitive software. The teeth are optically scanned in seconds to produce a solid model. The model is manipulated using mouse clicks to either build up or reduce the surfaces of the solid. Mouse drags blend surfaces. Then window the area to be machined and one click creates tool paths and and posts it to the office mill.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Next they will have a stradel 5 axis mill strapped to the patients chair and let er rip! :lol:

 

Haha, that really made me laugh! I need a good laugh, been here 12 hours and a few more to go. :blink: (gotta get this mold done, so I don't mind)

 

Interesting topic! 3 days huh gcode? lol Must be some cool program they use for that! Wish I could see a demonstration..

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for those interested, this is what we are going with:

 

http://www.rolanddg....x-30/index.html

http://www.rolanddg....x-50/index.html

 

 

using this companies software for resizing, scanning crowns, abutments, bridges, etc... and then use mastercam to program them.

 

 

 

I need a Mastercam post that would work with the MDX-20 I wonder if any one is programming with MC.

I have done some Art surfaces then saved and brought into there roland sofware and programmed it.

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