Laser densification of extruded dental porcelain bodies in multi‐material laser densification process

Purpose Commercial dental porcelain powder was deposited via slurry extrusion and laser densified to fabricate dental restorations in a multi‐material laser densification (MMLD) process. Design/methodology/approach A dental porcelain slurry was made from ball milled dental porcelain powders and extruded using the MMLD system. Extruded lines and rings were laser densified under different conditions in order to study how to build fully dense porcelain layers without warping and cracking during the MMLD process. Findings The geometric cross section of laser densified porcelain lines were dependent on laser processing parameters. Laser densified single ring showed no warping, and multiple layer body after laser densification showed cracks in the rings. The interface microstructure suggested good bonding between multiple layers. The mechanism to achieve single porcelain ring without warping and cracking is discussed. Alternate ways to build physical tooth layer by layer are proposed. Originality/value In the MMLD process, dental porcelain slurry was extruded from a human tooth computer file and laser densified to manufacture dental restorations based on solid freeform fabrication (SFF) principles. The understanding developed will pave the way for fabricating a physical dental restoration unit in the near future.