Effect of Exposure Energy on Lateral Resolution and Flexural Strength of 3D Printed Dental Zirconia

 

Zirconia ceramic is a high-strength material with excellent corrosion and wear resistance, which makes it suitable for high-stress environments, such as dental applications from implant fixtures to tooth- or implant-borne fixed prostheses. 1,2,3 To fabricate accurate dental prostheses with zirconia, subtractive milling (SM) using an optimized tool path has been widely used. However, inherent drawbacks of SM include the possible risk of microscopic cracks on the surface, waste of leftover blocks, and high consumption of milling tools. Additive manufacturing (AM) has been suggested as an alternative method to fabricate zirconia-based dental prostheses to address the drawbacks from SM. 4,5,6 Using stereolithography (SLA) or digital light processing (DLP), a solid ceramic body is generated by successive layering, followed by photopolymerization of a resin-based suspension containing ceramic particles. A DLP technique builds an entire object by stacking each layer from a light-mask image, and the light intensity and exposure time are key production parameters, depending on the characteristics of the suspension. 4,7,8 The goal of this study was to investigate the association between the exposure energy and quality of DLP-generated zirconia for dental applications. The study contributes the knowledge and its advancement of AM in dental material.