Researchers at the University of Texas Develop Same-Day 3D Printing Process for Zirconia Dental Crowns

A research team at the University of Texas at Dallas has developed a 3D printing process for durable zirconia dental restorations that could enable the production of crowns, bridges, or veneers within a single day. The technology is currently being prepared for commercial use with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Zirconia is considered the standard material for long-lasting dental restorations due to its high strength, biocompatibility, and aesthetics. Until now, same-day restorations have typically been made from polymer-based ceramics, which are faster to produce but mechanically less stable. Alternatively, zirconia restorations are traditionally milled, a process that results in material waste, design limitations, and a risk of microcracks during grinding or sintering.

The team led by Professor Majid Minary, a mechanical engineer at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, has overcome a major challenge in 3D printing zirconia: the lengthy debinding process. This step, in which the resin between zirconia particles is burned out, typically takes up to 100 hours. Accelerating the process risks material cracking due to trapped gases.

“We are excited to be advancing the commercialization of chair-side 3D-printed, all-ceramic zirconia permanent dental restorations,” said Dr. Majid Minary, professor of mechanical engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. “Because the crowns can be custom-printed for each patient on the same day, this approach offers greater personalization, faster treatment and the convenience of receiving a permanent restoration in a single visit.”

By using a specially designed heat transfer process in combination with porous graphite felt, the team was able to reduce debinding time to less than 30 minutes. The felt allows gases to escape while a vacuum system simultaneously removes them.

“Debinding has been the bottleneck in the process,” said Minary, corresponding author of the article. “It must be done very slowly. If you speed it up, the polymer being burned off turns into gas, and if that gas cannot escape, the crown may crack or fracture. A debinding time of 20 to 100 hours is not practical for same-day dental service. As a result, 3D-printed permanent zirconia restorations are not yet commercially available.”

“The combination of all of these features is what makes it work,” Minary said. “With our technology, if a practitioner wants to offer a 3D-printed zirconia crown chair-side, they could provide it to a patient within just a few hours.”

The process is currently being further developed in collaboration with Pan-AM Dental Laboratory and 3DCeram Sinto. Clinical validation and regulatory approval are still pending. The researchers see this technology as a step toward fully digital, patient-specific workflows in dentistry, combining material quality, efficiency, and personalization.