Which technology enables the fabrication of custom aligners in digital dentistry?

Which technology enables the fabrication of custom aligners in digital dentistry?

• A. Intraoral scanning
• B. CBCT
• C. 3D printing
• D. 2D photography

Answer: (C)

Turning a digital design into a patient-specific aligner relies on creating a physical dental model from the digital data, and that bridge is built by 3D printing. Intraoral scanning provides an accurate 3D representation of the teeth, which the aligner design uses. But the step that actually produces the tangible form needed to make the clear aligners is 3D printing one or more physical models (or directly printable molds) that are then used to thermoform the clear plastic into the final aligners. CBCT adds extra bone detail useful for broader treatment planning but isn’t used to fabricate the aligners themselves, and 2D photography lacks the 3D information required for both design and fabrication. So the technology that enables fabrication of custom aligners in digital dentistry is 3D printing.

Turning a digital design into a patient-specific aligner relies on creating a physical dental model from the digital data, and that bridge is built by 3D printing. Intraoral scanning provides an accurate 3D representation of the teeth, which the aligner design uses. But the step that actually produces the tangible form needed to make the clear aligners is 3D printing one or more physical models (or directly printable molds) that are then used to thermoform the clear plastic into the final aligners. CBCT adds extra bone detail useful for broader treatment planning but isn’t used to fabricate the aligners themselves, and 2D photography lacks the 3D information required for both design and fabrication. So the technology that enables fabrication of custom aligners in digital dentistry is 3D printing.