3D Systems Corporation, a provider of 3-D printing, prototyping and manufacturing in Valencia launched a new dental lab system, the InVision Dental Professional. The system was revealed at an exhibition in Chicago last Saturday at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. 3D Systems will begin shipments of the new system in the second quarter of 2006. The InVision DP is a 3D printer which creates the dental molds used for copings and bridges. Abe Reichental, 3D Systems president and CEO said it can produce castable customized patterns for 150 individual copings in less than six hours. Dental treatment is an $84 billion industry in the United States, according to a recent study at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and reported on Fortune.com. According to the report, Americans are expected to spend 7% more a year on dental treatment through 2014, totaling $147 billion. Dental labs produce almost 55 million dental prostheses a year. The InVision 3D printer was named one of the most innovative and ground-breaking technologies in the dental industry by the WOW! Issue in the Journal of Dental Technology.
