A Preliminary Study of the Graded Dental Porcelain Ceramic Structures Fabricated via Binder Jetting 3D Printing

Dental porcelain is a common material used for various dental restoration structures including crowns, bridges and veneers. However, the current designs of all-ceramic porcelain restorations lack sufficient mechanical property controls, which results in increased failure rates. In this study, dental porcelain ceramics with graded compositions were fabricated by binder jetting 3D printing system in the attempt to actively control their mechanical performance. The graded structures were produced by two different fabrication routes, which are lamination stacking and continuous fabrication. In the lamination stacking route, porcelain laminates with different compositions were fabricated individually and stacked up for the sintering to form integrated structures with graded properties. In the continuous fabrication, samples with graded structure were printed continuously in the 3D printing machine. Microstructural evaluations with the samples demonstrated the feasibility of achieving good structural integrity for the dental porcelain parts fabricated by the continuous method.