Looking to mill denture teeth, but know jack about milling

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caninecommando

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I’m looking to break down and buy a mill to mill denture teeth out of pmma (or whatever else smarter, more experienced people might recommend) for designs completed in exocad denture, Pontic, and partial modules. I’m looking for some direction on where to start and what mills to consider. I’m not looking to mill bases (atleast not yet),but would like to sort out what I can expect to pay for a mill for milling denture teeth and how much mill time and materials cost is invested per 14 tooth arch.
I’ve got a good work ethic (albeit with limited free time) so I’m not apposed to reading books on laboratory procedures or milling if anyone has any good recommendations on that too.

to sum up, I’m absolutely clueless and need a starting point.
 
CoolHandLuke

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you are familiar with denture teeth designs coming from exocad, so you are not starting from scratch.

basically you are looking at buying a mill and buying pucks of material. first, find out what pucks make good teeth. ask the audience, what pucks make good teeth.

some pmma looks junky. some pmma have nice multi layers. find that out.

then you can begin to ask about leasing options on any low cost pmma mill. these are your Roland 51d, imes250/350/450, versamill 5x400, zirkonzahn, zubler dc series, yenadent, amann girrbach, and many more, ranging from 25k-50k usd. you'll know already that you'll want to ask about whose support is best before you dip your toes. so ask the audience, whose support for milling has been best. get quoted not only for the mill but the training to use the mill and the CAM software. there may be used mahines available in the classifieds, often these are not broken machines, just people liquidating or retiring as they upgrade.

while you are at it ask about who can support both your mill and your exocad. then transfer your dongle to them.

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caninecommando

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I don’t suppose you have any experience with the pmma pucks and which ones look best?
 
CoolHandLuke

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i do, but they are a bit tougher to use on many out of the box mills. for my money, start with Harvest dental temp esthetic, and supplement that with cheaper options for posteriors, like the ones sold by TD dental. anteriors in Harvest, posteriors in TD, that kind of thing. if you really want to get artsy, stick to a mono or dual layer pmma as a dentin and add composite. theres tons of ways you can personalize and beautify it.

the one i like is polycarbonate though, which is not something most mills are set up to cut straight away. one that is, Zirkonzahn. because the material i like is Zirkonzahn multistratum. this may sound strange, because i work for and support Axsys Versamill products. it's a supply issue for us, but i know if we could reliably get pucks from italy, we'd be reselling and supporting multistratum in a heartbeat.

we got polident discs - they work. but our machines make it so that you are open and free to choose. our support does not end when you stop buying our consumables.

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FullPartial

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Can you expand on the polycarbonate preference?
 
CoolHandLuke

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polycarbonate is stiffer than pmma, but suffers from being difficult to machine. if heat builds on the tool, the material will melt into the tool, instantly set, and poof, you broke a tool.

polycarbonate needs new machine templates to run smoothly because you absolutely must mitigate heat either by milling wet, or with a lot of air and super speed.

multistratum is worth it. good stiff teeth that don't wear easy (unless you forget the varnish) and can be milled quite thin.
 
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