6 ms·

Surgery free, 3D printed implants

68 points by rusabd 9y ago

totallynotcool 9y ago
"Non Implant", "Dental"... should be in the tittle. In saying that, pretty cool. I'd love to see consumers be able to do this.
- phaed 9y ago
  I was expecting breasts.
  - drewm1980 9y ago
    I was expecting knees
toomuchtodo 9y ago
Thank you for posting this! I have a tooth I need extracted due to a fracture from stress, and have dreaded getting the screw implant in my lower jaw. Science to the rescue!
- fractallyte 9y ago
  If you're planning on getting this treatment, it's very important NOT to have your tooth extracted beforehand.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Noted!
adventurer 9y ago
I'm curious as to the long term failure rate of this type of implant. Teeth shift and there will be bone loss around it to some extent. It may be a better option but I don't think it is as perfect as the marketing makes it seem.
- desireco42 9y ago
  Good points but I think it will not be bone loss if you are actually using this tooth, same way you don't have bone loss around titanium screw. I don't think anyone knows potential issues with this one, except that they sound better. Current implants last from 10-25 yrs sometimes and are the best solution. This has potential to provide even better one.
- jbob2000 9y ago
  It's so cheap, it almost doesn't matter.
  - fractallyte 9y ago
    Well, no, it's not that cheap... The upfront cost is as much as a regular titanium implant. The real savings come later: there's no subsequent treatment to deal with infections (peri-implantitis) or other complications. BioImplant is basically 'fit and forget'.
    - agumonkey 9y ago
      Computer crowd say "plug and play" ;)
- fractallyte 9y ago
  Long term, there have been no failures. There have been 5-10 year follow-ups, no issues at all. In particular, the use of zirconia has proven to be as effective (and much more esthetic) than titanium.
desireco42 9y ago
Tell me this is true! Because it does make sense. I want this to be true :). I would totally be game to go to Vienna, provided I can pay for procedure (well and need one). Implants, the ones with screw are supposedly one of the most durable ways to fix your tooth.
Pyxl101 9y ago
http://www.bioimplant.at/faq-2/ http://www.bioimplant.at/faq-2/ > Are there any long-term follow up publications? > We have attempted to publish papers in leading journals, but have repeatedly encountered resistance to this innovative idea from “The Establishment”. Dental industry perferes to sell simple titanium screw type variations at the price of 200 Euros (a middel class cellphone!) and industry recruited experts simply prefere to make money with risky and costly operations and love to teach confusing drill sequences and fill guide lines. Why not make the paper available anyway, like on arxiv.org?
- highd 9y ago
  In particular, if they're so confident about the absurdity of the critiques, they should publish those as well. Maybe dentists have some real concern that these inventors are dismissing out of hand - the best way to dispel that, if false, is to make it public.
- colah3 9y ago
  Other content in this article makes me a bit nervous. For example, it strongly implies at several points that the dental association has a conspiracy to keep patients using less safe technology because it leads to recurring surgeries: > No one can argue against this logical access to immediate implantology. > Surgeons like simple titanium screws because they mean more surgery. More surgery means more money.
  - nether 9y ago
    I asked about this five months ago, and was told my theory was "asinine," and that here was no conspiracy. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13361392#13362425 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13361392#13362425 I'd be curious to hear lancewiggs's views on this tech.
    - fractallyte 9y ago
      I've seen the actual rejection letters from prominent dental implant journals stating that this treatment is not of interest to their readership, and to seek publication elsewhere. Perhaps it's not a coordinated conspiracy, but this really is a 'WTF?' situation.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
mponw 9y ago
Seeing this on HN is a little confusing because I will hopefully be soon getting an implant by Dr. Pirker. I was in has practice a couple of weeks ago and we had a long, for me very inspiring talk not only on my implant but on the worrying state of medicine and society in general. And yeah, from what I understood, he is looking for investors for a more automated manufacturing process for the currently hand-crafted implants.
- insulanian 9y ago
  Why is it confusing?
- insulanian 9y ago
  Why is it confusing?
- justinclift 9y ago
  Heh Heh Heh HN has a pretty open submission mechanism, and gets all kinds of nifty stuff submitted here that people could find interesting. It's not a call for "Hackers" (of the evil system cracking kind, etc) to do anything nasty with them.
fractallyte 9y ago
I work with Dr Pirker (CEO/developer of BioImplant). AMA! BioImplant is one of those truly disruptive technologies: a new paradigm. It's interesting (as a HN reader) to see such a tech story unfold in 'real time'. The biggest obstacle so far has been to foster awareness of this treatment option via popular media (ie. an article in an English-language newspaper/magazine). The dental world is fixated on simple screw type implants, which are costly, unnatural, and very rarely satisfactory.
- candiodari 9y ago
  Since you don't get a mold beforehand I'm guessing this is 3d printed. How do you get the 3d image of the tooth ?
  - fractallyte 9y ago
    Yes, the title is slightly incorrect, there's no 3D printing involved. The implant is milled from a 3D scan of the extracted tooth. It's very much an artisan process, which we're hoping to make entirely digital.
    - justinclift 9y ago
      X-ray → CAD model → CNC machine?
      - fractallyte 9y ago
        That's pretty much the idea! A fully digital process would allow this treatment to be offered by any dentist, anywhere in the world (with a good internet connection, of course).
        toomuchtodo 9y ago
        Could I have the X-ray taken in the US, digitally sent to your lab, and then show up at your lab with the new implant waiting? (Hypothetically)
Santosh83 9y ago
Sounds amazing. Just one question. Is there any possibility of this technology being licensed out to other countries in the near (or mid term) future? I live in India and would love to get this done, but travelling to Europe for this is not all that feasible. Edit: corrected the country
agumonkey 9y ago
What is funny to me is that by avoiding "geometry" the tech looks very primitive; but if thinking in terms of tissue and context, it's so much better than a screw.
lasfter 9y ago
Quick heads up that your website doesn't display properly (I can zoom out so that your entire site is a thin column on the left of the screen) on my phone. I'm on Chrome on a Samsung Galaxy S5.
trhway 9y ago
Sounds reasonable. Obvious limitation is that it is applicable only right after extraction and with healthy bone at the site.

68 points by rusabd 9y ago

"Non Implant", "Dental"... should be in the tittle. In saying that, pretty cool. I'd love to see consumers be able to do this.

phaed 9y ago
I was expecting breasts.
- drewm1980 9y ago
  I was expecting knees

toomuchtodo 9y ago

Thank you for posting this! I have a tooth I need extracted due to a fracture from stress, and have dreaded getting the screw implant in my lower jaw. Science to the rescue!

fractallyte 9y ago
If you're planning on getting this treatment, it's very important NOT to have your tooth extracted beforehand.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Noted!

adventurer 9y ago

I'm curious as to the long term failure rate of this type of implant. Teeth shift and there will be bone loss around it to some extent. It may be a better option but I don't think it is as perfect as the marketing makes it seem.

desireco42 9y ago
Good points but I think it will not be bone loss if you are actually using this tooth, same way you don't have bone loss around titanium screw. I don't think anyone knows potential issues with this one, except that they sound better. Current implants last from 10-25 yrs sometimes and are the best solution. This has potential to provide even better one.
jbob2000 9y ago
It's so cheap, it almost doesn't matter.
- fractallyte 9y ago
  Well, no, it's not that cheap... The upfront cost is as much as a regular titanium implant. The real savings come later: there's no subsequent treatment to deal with infections (peri-implantitis) or other complications. BioImplant is basically 'fit and forget'.
  - agumonkey 9y ago
    Computer crowd say "plug and play" ;)
fractallyte 9y ago
Long term, there have been no failures. There have been 5-10 year follow-ups, no issues at all. In particular, the use of zirconia has proven to be as effective (and much more esthetic) than titanium.

desireco42 9y ago

Tell me this is true! Because it does make sense. I want this to be true :). I would totally be game to go to Vienna, provided I can pay for procedure (well and need one). Implants, the ones with screw are supposedly one of the most durable ways to fix your tooth.

Pyxl101 9y ago

http://www.bioimplant.at/faq-2/ http://www.bioimplant.at/faq-2/ > Are there any long-term follow up publications? > We have attempted to publish papers in leading journals, but have repeatedly encountered resistance to this innovative idea from “The Establishment”. Dental industry perferes to sell simple titanium screw type variations at the price of 200 Euros (a middel class cellphone!) and industry recruited experts simply prefere to make money with risky and costly operations and love to teach confusing drill sequences and fill guide lines. Why not make the paper available anyway, like on arxiv.org?

highd 9y ago
In particular, if they're so confident about the absurdity of the critiques, they should publish those as well. Maybe dentists have some real concern that these inventors are dismissing out of hand - the best way to dispel that, if false, is to make it public.
colah3 9y ago
Other content in this article makes me a bit nervous. For example, it strongly implies at several points that the dental association has a conspiracy to keep patients using less safe technology because it leads to recurring surgeries: > No one can argue against this logical access to immediate implantology. > Surgeons like simple titanium screws because they mean more surgery. More surgery means more money.
- nether 9y ago
  I asked about this five months ago, and was told my theory was "asinine," and that here was no conspiracy. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13361392#13362425 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13361392#13362425 I'd be curious to hear lancewiggs's views on this tech.
  - fractallyte 9y ago
    I've seen the actual rejection letters from prominent dental implant journals stating that this treatment is not of interest to their readership, and to seek publication elsewhere. Perhaps it's not a coordinated conspiracy, but this really is a 'WTF?' situation.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

mponw 9y ago

Seeing this on HN is a little confusing because I will hopefully be soon getting an implant by Dr. Pirker. I was in has practice a couple of weeks ago and we had a long, for me very inspiring talk not only on my implant but on the worrying state of medicine and society in general. And yeah, from what I understood, he is looking for investors for a more automated manufacturing process for the currently hand-crafted implants.

insulanian 9y ago
Why is it confusing?
insulanian 9y ago
Why is it confusing?
justinclift 9y ago
Heh Heh Heh HN has a pretty open submission mechanism, and gets all kinds of nifty stuff submitted here that people could find interesting. It's not a call for "Hackers" (of the evil system cracking kind, etc) to do anything nasty with them.

fractallyte 9y ago

I work with Dr Pirker (CEO/developer of BioImplant). AMA! BioImplant is one of those truly disruptive technologies: a new paradigm. It's interesting (as a HN reader) to see such a tech story unfold in 'real time'. The biggest obstacle so far has been to foster awareness of this treatment option via popular media (ie. an article in an English-language newspaper/magazine). The dental world is fixated on simple screw type implants, which are costly, unnatural, and very rarely satisfactory.

candiodari 9y ago
Since you don't get a mold beforehand I'm guessing this is 3d printed. How do you get the 3d image of the tooth ?
- fractallyte 9y ago
  Yes, the title is slightly incorrect, there's no 3D printing involved. The implant is milled from a 3D scan of the extracted tooth. It's very much an artisan process, which we're hoping to make entirely digital.
  - justinclift 9y ago
    X-ray → CAD model → CNC machine?
    - fractallyte 9y ago
      That's pretty much the idea! A fully digital process would allow this treatment to be offered by any dentist, anywhere in the world (with a good internet connection, of course).
      - toomuchtodo 9y ago
        Could I have the X-ray taken in the US, digitally sent to your lab, and then show up at your lab with the new implant waiting? (Hypothetically)

Santosh83 9y ago

Sounds amazing. Just one question. Is there any possibility of this technology being licensed out to other countries in the near (or mid term) future? I live in India and would love to get this done, but travelling to Europe for this is not all that feasible. Edit: corrected the country

agumonkey 9y ago

What is funny to me is that by avoiding "geometry" the tech looks very primitive; but if thinking in terms of tissue and context, it's so much better than a screw.

lasfter 9y ago

Quick heads up that your website doesn't display properly (I can zoom out so that your entire site is a thin column on the left of the screen) on my phone. I'm on Chrome on a Samsung Galaxy S5.

trhway 9y ago

Sounds reasonable. Obvious limitation is that it is applicable only right after extraction and with healthy bone at the site.