May 19, 2016 | By Alec
Remember Amos Dudley? An undergraduate student from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, he took the internet by storm two months ago after 3D printing his own $60 braces to successfully straighten his once crooked teeth. As word spread, news also reached SLA 3D printing pioneers Formlabs in Massachusetts, who were so impressed by the student’s ingenuity that they have given him a job as application engineer.
It’s the kind of outcome all makers dream of, but then this was a truly remarkable project. Having always been self-conscious about his crooked teeth, but low on funds, Amos set out to take matters into his own hands. With access to state-of-the-art 3D scanning and 3D printing technologies through his university, Amos was able to recreate actual orthodontic tools for his own mouth. “So what does one need to do this themselves? Knowledge of orthodontic movement, a 3D scanner, a mold of the teeth, CAD software, a hi-res 3D printer, retainer material, and a vacuum forming machine. I realized, I had - or could acquire - all of these things,” Amos said at the time.
The results after just 16 weeks.
After making a mold and cast of his own dentures, Amos used a NextEngine laser scanner to capture the exact state of his teeth. Using the resultant digital file, the clever student was able to adjust the animated teeth to create a step-by-step aligner models. Amos then 3D printed a total of six aligners, each for a different stage of teeth movement, using his university’s Stratasys Dimension 1200es 3D printer. Though a complicated manufacturing process, Amos ended up with a set of aligners that he wore 24 hours a day for a 16 week period. During that time, his teeth corrected themselves almost perfectly.
It was one of the most impressive DIY 3D printing projects we ever reported on, and we weren’t the only ones who were so amazed. CNN picked up the story as well, after which Amos became national news. The offers started to come in soon afterwards, with several orthodontists and entrepreneurs wanting to commercialize his braces. While Amos refused most of the offers, he couldn’t say no to one company: The Sommerville, Massachusetts, 3D printing pioneers Formlabs offered him a job.
Formlabs, of course, is the company that raised nearly $3 million through Kickstarter and produces a very well received line of SLA 3D printers. Founder Max Lobovsky heard about Amos’s work, and invited the ambitious student for an interview. After spending a day with the Formlabs team, Amos received a fantastic offer a few weeks later: to come work with them as an application engineer. “Amos's work pushes the limits of 3D printing applications,” said Lobovsky. “That kind of inventiveness is exactly what our customers hope to achieve with our products.”
Amos, of course, was over the moon, and said the outcome of his 3D printed braces project could not have been better. “Formlabs is a great company,” Amos says, “and this is biggest and best thing that ever could have happened to me.” Graduating this week, he will soon move the Boston region to begin the next stage of his life. It just shows what can happen if you work hard to make your ideas come to life.
Posted in 3D Printer Company
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Thats great!!!Help! I want to change my smile for $60
Holmes wrote at 5/21/2016 1:17:16 PM:
This news don´t like greedy dentists.
Alvaro wrote at 5/19/2016 4:07:48 PM:
This guy is genius!. Congratulations
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