Primary Study On A Novel Kind Of Wax Formed By Laser Sintering For Dental Use

Rapid Prototyping technology is increasingly applied to the field of Stomatology at present. However, up to now, restricted by the precision of data collection and fabricating, the model fabricated by RP can not show the detailed feature, additionally, patients have characteristic demands. For these reasons, the models should be modified. Selective Laser Sintering as a method of RP can fabricate wax models which can be modified without model transformation. Compared with other RP methods, SLS has particular advantages for dental use, especially in fabricating of prostheses.Wax has been applied to the field of RP as a kind of material of SLS not for a long time. The institutes which do research on wax formed by laser sintering are very limited at home and abroad. The existed wax which is similar to resin is not fit for dental use for its high melting point and hardness. Till now, there is not a kind of wax formed by laser sintering which can meet the need of dental use.The aim of the present study is to synthesize a kind of wax formed by laser sintering for dental use, and evaluate the properties of this wax. By the present study, theoretical and practical foundation of dental used wax formed by laser sintering will be laid.The present study is comprised three parts.In the first part, by changing the components and their proportions of wax formed by laser sintering which is in use, a new kind of wax which is denominated temporarily as SW-1 is invented. SW-1 is proved to meet the need of dental use by experiments. SW-1 is grinded into powder with the help of cooling system and vacuum drying equipment. The diameter of the powder is 25-50μm which meets the need of laser sintering.In the second part, standards of evaluating dental used wax formed by laser sintering are groped for. Through the test of properties, SW-1 meets the need of dental use: Compared with wax formed by laser Sintering which is used now, melting point and viscosity of SW-1 decrease significantly. There is no significant different between hardness of SW-1 and dental modeling wax. Linear shrinkage of SW-1 meets the national standards of dental modeling wax. Plastic deformation and toughness of SW-1 do not meet the national standards. Ash content of SW-1 is a little lower than dental modeling wax.In the third part, SW-1 powder is applied to fabricate nose model by SLS machine. Using SW-1 powder, the fabricating procedure goes on well. The precision of the wax model is within the limit of acceptance.Conclusively, the present study has invited SW-1, and illustrated that SW-1 may be the proper laser sintering material for dental use, which has good prospect.