Undergraduate Student Uses 3D Printer To Make His Own Braces
3D printing technology has come a long way and you can find this technology being used in a number of different market spaces. It's printing food, body parts, entire houses, and a lot more.
Through the years the technology has become a lot cheaper and you can now buy yourself a 3D printer for a few hundred dollars, depending on the quality that you want; it can go up to several thousand for a printer as well.
If you happen to have a quality 3D printer, or even access to one, you might be able to use it to make yourself a pair of braces, like one recent undergraduate decided to do.
When it comes to a regular dentist visit, it can sometimes easily cost several hundred dollars, or even thousands depending on the services required, for those who don't have the proper insurance to cover it.
And when you have to pay cash, a great deal of people don't have the adequate savings ready in order to be able to deal with that sort of unexpected cost. So many folks will just opt to go without getting the procedure done.
One undergraduate at New Jersey Institute of Technology recently decided that he didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on braces for himself. So he turned to his 3D printer in order to help him find a solution.
Amos Dudley says that he spent about $60 on the materials and he was successful in being able to print his own braces using a 3D printer that he had access to at his university.
The process of creating the braces wasn't easy and he had to do a lot of research of orthodontic procedures he says, he also had to create a mold of his teeth using alginate powder; he eventually was able to create a variety of models using inexpensive plastic.
He originally got the idea for it when he came across a photo of a name brand clear-alignment treatment that was basically a clear pair of braces meant to help straighten and align the teeth.
After seeing the model of it, he thought that it looked like something a 3D printer could possibly create. So he went to work.
He says that they really worked for him and he is pleased with the results. He also saved himself thousands of dollars by opting to see if he could create his own using a 3D printer. For more details on the exact process of how he went about creating his braces, he's detailed the steps on his blog (link below).
Pics:
Amos Dudley
Wikipedia
Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-3d-print-plastic-braces-for-60-2017-5/#and-after-about-four-months-11
http://amosdudley.com/weblog/Ortho
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That is a mad idea. Food? How does it 3D food? Is it real food?
That is crazy. Not sure if chocolate counts as food but very cool regardless! :)
even cheese! lol https://steemit.com/science/@doitvoluntarily/3d-printers-pizza-chocolate-and-now-cheese
http://www.businessinsider.com/beehex-pizza-3d-printer-2017-3 :)
smart Lad.....very impressive
he could sell these to people for cheap! he could start his own DIY braces company and sell software to make your own braces easily!
WOW because if he DOESNT someone else will! 3d printers are just popular enough to amke this work but not too ppular to alloww everyone to make their own!
Im glad he made it sound hard to do! It probobly wasnt but its probobly his strategy to turn it into a business soon!
that sounds like too much freedom
The potential of 3D printing is only restricted by the curiosity of ones imagination.
I am constantly amazed by all the things people come up with using 3D printers, its seems like tons of new ideas are thought of daily!
Really impressive. I saw one of the small versions of 3D printer and I think the only border is our fantasy! :D
it's quite the amazing little tool to have around
We have a little 3D printer in the local library and sometimes they organize laboratories on how to use it ^_^
That's really cool. I was reading about 3D printers being able to print up the components to build a house fairly quickly. It's amazing what they can.
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