Milling and machining dental materials

The dental industry has evolved from a craft to an industrialized CAD/CAM manufacturing process. For the production of crowns, bridges or abutments, radius cutters or torus cutters are required that are precisely tailored to the requirements of the material, the machine and, last but not least, the user, in order to be able to achieve a perfect result.

Dentists can now choose from numerous materials for high-quality dental restorations. Cobalt-chromium (CoCr) or NEM, titanium, zirconium, PMMA, PEEK or nanocomposites are the dental materials that are mainly used in the dental industry. In addition, various ceramics are also used, especially di-silicates.

Powerful bite – optimization potential for cutting tools in dental technology

In the manufacture of dental prostheses and implants, there is great potential for optimization, and this can be realized through the use of highly sophisticated, specialized tools. Hufschmied offers the dental industry a range of precise tools specifically optimized for machining zirconia ceramics, plastics and other dental engineering materials.

When dental technology companies that were originally organized as craftsmen invest in a modern milling center, it results in the desire to industrialize the processes. The new machines should be utilized to the fullest possible extent to achieve a faster return on investment. For this optimization of processes, it is equally important to use specialized tools. In Hufschmied’s dental program catalog, you will find the ideally suited tool geometries to match the dental materials. These tool geometries are then adapted to the machines available to the user and produced… We also make a further classification according to the machining centers, since all CNC machines have different strengths and weaknesses: They differ, for example, in terms of their maximum torques, speeds axes, feeds, tool holding and control.

Hufschmied can draw on a pool of more than 700 standard tool geometries, which serve as a starting point for the development, production and delivery of individual tools for your company or the requirements of the machine types that are to be used. We vary the technology of the tools in each case to suit the material behavior and the machine properties. For example, if you are working on a machine with relatively low power and high speed, space must be left for a high chip volume, and usually only two or three cutting edges can be provided. If, on the other hand, you want to cut with a slower machine that has a high torque, the tool can be equipped with up to six cutting edges or more. The question of how long a tool needs to be also depends on the machine. Our dental industry consultants look forward to working with you to identify the perfect tools for your organization.

How Hufschmied Tools Meet the Challenge of Ceramics

The demands on cutting tool materials are primarily determined by the strengths of the materials to be machined. However, microgeometry and coating must also be adapted to the material. Ceramic components are a particular challenge in this respect, since they are not removed as chips, but rather in powder form. The extremely abrasive effect of these powders requires a high-quality diamond coating of the tool, as this is the only way to achieve long tool life. An example of such a tool is the Zirkon-Duster from Hufschmied, which can be used for both roughing and finishing. Since it also works with a particularly low cutting pressure, it can be used to produce wall thicknesses of just 0.1 mm. The nanocrystalline diamond coating DIP®3S is designed in such a way that the low surface roughness of the coating prevents zircon dust from settling in the tool surface. This eliminates the need for tedious cleaning of the tools, for example.

Best performance with other plastic materials

For PEEK and CF-PEEK PMMA, Hufschmied has developed the 110FPRDT single-edged milling tool. A bite splint can be milled with it in less than 25 minutes. With traditional methods, this normally takes an hour. Incidentally, PMMA thermoplastics also demonstrate Hufschmied’s special experience with difficult materials: During processing, the transparency of the acrylic glass is preserved. Thanks to the special geometry of the single-edged 110FPRDTA full-radius cutter, PEEK can be machined without burrs or lint even without cooling. If you want to make the machining work in your dental laboratory more efficient, Hufschmied are an expert partner in every respect.

Cost-efficient and rework-free machining

Hufschmied offers a wide range of milling cutters for cost-efficient, rework-free machining of these materials: We select the optimum cutting edge geometry, the appropriate base material and the most efficient coating for the tool and use this to build a complete tool system for each dental milling machine.