What if you could hand a patient their finished crown before they even leave the chair — and it cost you $22 to make? Chairside 3D printing is no longer a future concept; it is happening right now in high-volume practices, and it is reshaping how dentists think about same-day restorations.
Dr. Michael Erdos is a general dentist and co-owner of Tawil Dental, a Brooklyn practice with nearly 50 years of history in cosmetic, restorative, and implant dentistry. A Columbia University College of Dental Medicine graduate and former Chief Resident at Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Erdos has built his clinical focus around the intersection of aesthetic dentistry, prosthodontics, and digital workflows. Over the past several years, he has worked directly with Shining3D to test, refine, and optimize in-office digital printing workflows at scale, with a particular emphasis on making AI-driven design and chairside printing practical for everyday clinical use.
In this episode, Dr. Erdos walks through a complete chairside 3D printing workflow — from intraoral scan to cemented restoration — and explains exactly how a general dentist can deliver a crown, veneer, onlay, or pediatric crown in a single visit using a compact, countertop printer that weighs under five pounds and requires nothing more than a standard wall outlet. He compares chairside printing directly to milling, discusses the ceramic-infused resin materials now cleared for permanent restorations, and shares his honest assessment of where the aesthetics stand today versus lithium disilicate. This is one of the most clinically detailed and financially transparent conversations about chairside 3D printing available to the dental profession.
- Episode Highlights:
- The complete chairside workflow from scan to cemented restoration can be completed in approximately 30 minutes, with a significant portion delegable to a trained assistant. The process involves scanning the full arch and bite pre-operatively, scanning the preparation, uploading to a cloud-based platform, and using AI design software to generate a restoration proposal — typically within one to two minutes — before sending directly to the printer in a single click.
- Ceramic-infused resin materials now cleared for permanent restorations contain over 50% ceramic filler content, including ceramic compounds such as lithium disilicate and zirconia variants, which meaningfully increase strength and aesthetics compared to earlier-generation printable resins. While these materials do not yet rival the optical properties of pressed lithium disilicate or full-contour zirconia, post-cure staining, glazing, and nitrogen-atmosphere curing can significantly enhance final appearance and surface quality.
- The additive nature of 3D printing allows for margin and contour accuracy that can surpass subtractive milling in certain applications, particularly for thin restorations such as veneers, where burr diameter in milling limits the fineness of internal line angles and margins. For no-prep or minimal-prep veneer cases, printed restorations can be bonded over natural tooth structure with minimal or no enamel reduction, then refined chairside after cementation.
- From a financial standpoint, the per-restoration material cost using sealed single-use resin capsules is approximately $22, and a single capsule can accommodate multiple restorations of the same shade printed simultaneously — including up to six veneers or a three-unit bridge. At a practice fee of $750 per printed resin veneer, a four-veneer case generates approximately $3,000 in production at a material cost of $22, with the hardware investment in the printer recoupable within a single week of focused use.
- Chairside printing opens a clinically and financially accessible pathway for pediatric white crown restorations as a direct alternative to stainless steel crowns, allowing the printed crown to be fabricated during the same appointment while other restorative procedures are completed. The same workflow applies to budget-conscious adult patients currently treated with direct composite bonding, converting them to indirect printed resin veneers at a price point that improves case acceptance without competing directly with laboratory-fabricated porcelain veneer cases.
Perfect for: General dentists exploring same-day digital workflows, prosthodontists integrating in-office printing, pediatric dentists seeking aesthetic alternatives to stainless steel crowns, and dental residents building their understanding of AI-assisted restorative design and chairside digital technology.
If you have been waiting for 3D printing to become fast enough, affordable enough, and simple enough to work in a real practice — this episode will show you it already has.
