Rapid Shape and VOCO qualify dental materials for 3D printing

German additive manufacturing company Rapid Shape has announced a partnership with dental manufacturer VOCO, also based in Germany. The companies are combining their capabilities—including 3D printing systems and dental-grade materials—to offer their customers more freedom and flexibility when choosing what materials to work with. In short, the companies will work to qualify more dental materials for additive manufacturing.

Founded by Andreas Schultheiss, Rapid Shape offers additive manufacturing solutions for the dental, hearing aid and jewelry industries, among others. In the former category, the company has developed streamlined solutions for dental 3D printing, including the D10+ capsule for daily dental practice, the D20+ for affordable professional dental 3D printing, the D30+ for professional labs and others. Today, the company is positioned as a key AM player in the German and broader dental sectors.

VOCO, for its part, is a company based in Northern Germany that specializes in light curing plastics for restorative dentistry. With over three decades of experience, the company has recently turned its focus to 3D printing materials, bringing to market a portfolio of dental-grade materials in its V-Print family.

“The open system is giving our customers the possibility to choose the right material for their use,” said Schultheiss, Managing Director of Rapid Shape. “VOCO is another high-quality material partner by our side, who is enlarging and enhancing our portfolio. We are looking forward to the development work together with VOCO to provide more validated V-Print materials for our 3D printer.”

As part of the collaboration, the partners have already qualified a number of VOCO 3D printing materials for Rapid Shape’s dental 3D printing systems, including V-Print splint, a Class IIa material with high flexibility that is used for the production of transparent tooth racks; V-Print SG, a Class IIa medical product indexed for direct contact with wounds; and V-Print model, designed for the production of dental models with high scratch resistance. These materials are now qualified for use on Rapid Shape’s D20+, D30+, D20 II, D30 II and D40 II systems.

VOCO is the newest member of Rapid Shape’s pool of certified dental material partners. Other partners include SHERA, DREVE, DELTAMED, DETAX, GC and DMG.