Follow the 3D Road & Watch Your ROI Soar
Keystone Industries offers a streamlined path to fabricate splints, models, and nightguards that reduces labor costs, increases ROI, and leads to happier patients
It’s an understatement to say the last few years have been challenging for dental practices. The pandemic, rising material costs, and a constant labor shortage have severely impacted operating costs and ROIs. But Keystone Industries has your ROI worries covered, and it all starts with one small step into the world of 3D printing.
“It’s something that any office can learn...it’s a faster and more cost-efficient process.”
—Doug Statham, Senior Director of Digital Materials at Keystone
Dentists have witnessed an increased patient demand for nightguards for bruxers and they’ve discovered that they can fabricate these devices in-house with a validated printer and high-tech resins. The result is their ROIs are now soaring, and it all comes down to simple mathematics.
“Overall, it really centers on the cost of the product,” said Doug Statham, Senior Director, Digital Materials, at Keystone Industries. “For example, typical reimbursement on night guards is very strong, probably from $300 and above. An average lab charge for making one nightguard is about $75 to $100. But if you print the nightguard in-house, it’s only $3 to $4, so there’s a tremendous cost savings.”
Keystone offers high-tech dental resins compatible with more than 2 dozen validated printers, which retail between $5,000 and $10,000. This initial purchase price will quickly pay itself back once a practice begins fabricating nightguards, splints, and bleaching trays; and with more practices than ever using Keystone’s material for in-house fabrication, the news is spreading fast.
An Easy Path to Follow
“We’ve seen that as time has gone on, practices find that this is not a difficult process. It’s something that any office can learn and once they begin fabricating in-house, they’re eliminating the back-and-forth and expenses that come with using an outside laboratory. It’s a faster and more cost-efficient process,” Statham explained. “We advise dentists to purchase printers with an open system that accepts different materials and to make sure they’re getting great customer service for their technical questions,” he added. Overall, Statham has received many comments from dentists who have converted to 3D printing and witnessed a positive difference in turnaround time, accuracy, and profitability. “One dentist told me that he’s receiving more referrals because his patients find the appliances to be more comfortable, and everything is much faster for them.”
A leader in high-tech resins and other dental products for over 100 years, Keystone Industries combines its dental and photopolymer expertise to offer KeyPrint—a full line of precision 3D resins for a variety of dental needs.
Strong, Yet Flexible
KeySplint Soft is a one-of-a-kind, flexible, 3D printing resin used for fabricating flexible dental splints, bleaching trays, and nightguards. While similar materials can be brittle, KeySplint Soft’s unique chemistry results in a material that is strong yet highly flexible, easily cleaned, and easy to polish. Validated in more than 2 dozen open-source printers, and resistant to abrasions, fractures, and stains, the transparent material is also biocompatible and provides added flexibility for increased patient comfort. “We’ve found that the soft splint material has changed the idea of a nightguard. Doctors have found it to be much more patient friendly, and patient compliance is higher because the material is so comfortable,” Statham explained.
“If a practice purchases one bottle of KeySplint Soft, it will yield 85 nightguards, which will only cost about $3 to $4 each to make if the practice has a validated printer and fabricates the mouthguards in-house,” Statham said. “Even with design costs, practices can see a considerable cost savings with just a compatible printer and cure box, and a bottle of KeySplint Soft,” he added.
Greater Tooth Immobilization
For those cases requiring greater tooth immobilization, or if patients are severe bruxers, Keystone offers KeySplint Hard, a light-curing resin indicated for fabricating dental appliances such as bite planes, mouthguards, nightguards, and splints.
“Some patients are reluctant to change and prefer to stay with a material similar to what they’ve had in the past, and those patients often prefer KeySplint Hard,” Statham said.
High-Quality Try-In
For short-term trial dentures and single tooth applications, Keystone offers KeyDenture TryIn, a high-quality, biocompatible 3D
printing resin available in 3 tooth shades and designed to create a natural-looking gingiva for trial appointments. Odorless, tasteless, and free of MMA, BPA, and phthalates, KeyDenture TryIn provides an accurate try-in that’s compatible with fixed and removable workflows. “The try-in material is designed for removable applications and/or single tooth applications,” explained Statham. “It’s inexpensive, prints in less than an hour, and not labor intensive because it’s all done right there in your office. Plus, we’ve picked 3 of the most common shades, so it gives the patient a great representation of the finished product,” he added.
Fast, Accurate Modeling
KeyModel Ultra is a modeling material designed for both dental and orthodontic models. Ideal for thermoforming aligners, it is easily trimmed without chipping, uses ultra-fast technology for accurate and flawless models, and is available in multiple colors.
“This is a terrific model material and it’s really changing the dental market with respect to the costs associated with printing models,” Statham explained. “The surface quality is the best we’ve seen and it prints faster than other resins on the market,” he added.
