3D Sleep’s Additively Manufactured Dental Appliances Let Patients Sleep Safe and Sound
3D Sleep is a leading Australian dental sleep medicine company redefining how oral appliances for snoring, sleep apnoea, and bruxism are made. Established to meet the growing demand for reliable, comfortable, and clinically superior dental sleep appliances, the company recognised early on the limitations of traditional, manually fabricated acrylic devices. These processes were slow, inconsistent, and heavily reliant on individual technician skill—restricting scalability and often compromising on comfort or durability.
To overcome these barriers, 3D Sleep implemented advanced additive manufacturing (AM) technology using EOS systems and biocompatible nylon. This marked a pivotal step forward, enabling precision, consistency, and scalability while dramatically improving appliance strength, quality, comfort, and patient outcomes.
"When we decided to move to 3D printing, EOS stood out as the most well-known and reliable provider, offering the high accuracy and part reproducibility essential for producing consistent, high-quality medical devices."
Dr. Ken Lee, Co-Director at 3D Sleep
Challenge
Traditional acrylic MAS production posed considerable challenges. The process was entirely handmade by technicians, heavily reliant on individual skill; even a very experienced technician could only produce three to four appliances per day. "With traditional acrylic methods, even a really good technician could only make three or four appliances a day; it was a small-scale process heavily dependent on individual skill, which limited our ability to grow before adopting additive manufacturing," explains Dr. Ken Lee, Co-Director at 3D Sleep. This limited output severely restricted scalability and required hiring numerous dental technicians. Acrylic itself forced a difficult compromise: thinness required for comfort made appliances prone to fractures, while durable, thicker appliances reduced patient comfort and compliance.
Fractures were a major issue, leading to daily patient complaints and potential safety hazards, including parts breaking off and, in rare cases, being swallowed or inhaled. A large number of patients would fracture their acrylic appliances within three years. Dealing with these breakages consumed significant clinical time, with dentists spending half their day reviewing patients with broken devices. "Before switching to the durable nylon appliances produced with EOS technology," recalls Dr. Sam Talpis, Co-Director at 3D Sleep, "we would get daily phone calls from patients complaining about broken acrylic parts; that problem has now been eliminated."
The workflow was also cumbersome, involving physical molds shipped to the lab, stone models needing a day to harden, and a messy production process with acrylic powders and liquids. Furthermore, replacing lost or damaged acrylic appliances required starting the entire manual process over from scratch, and there were potential biocompatibility concerns with uncured monomers in manually processed acrylic.
Solution
3D Sleep’s workflow became fully digital, beginning with intraoral scans sent electronically to the lab, replacing the need for physical molds. Technicians design appliances using CAD software, significantly increasing design throughput compared to manual fabrication. Once complete, digital files are transferred to the EOS system for 3D printing. "When we decided to move to 3D printing, EOS stood out as the most well-known and reliable provider, offering the high accuracy and part reproducibility essential for producing consistent, high-quality medical devices," says Lee, underlining the importance of choosing the right technology partner.
Post-processing involves fitting the nylon appliance on a 3D-printed model of the patient’s teeth and making minor adjustments. Over time, these adjustments have become minimal thanks to the precision and consistency of the EOS technology. The digital model also allows for seamless remanufacturing—if an appliance is lost or damaged, it can be reproduced quickly from stored files without restarting the process.
The new production method also provided clear environmental and operational benefits. It replaced the messy, labour-intensive acrylic workflow with a cleaner, more efficient process that reduced material waste and improved turnaround times. By integrating EOS additive manufacturing into its digital ecosystem, 3D Sleep established a scalable, reliable, and future-ready solution that delivers exceptional quality, comfort, and performance for both clinicians and patients.
Results
The adoption of EOS technology delivered substantial improvements. The switch to nylon enabled a significant reduction in appliance thickness—from 2–3 mm with acrylic to just 0.5–1 mm—delivering a more comfortable fit without sacrificing strength or durability. 3D Sleep achieved the best of both worlds – appliances that are simultaneously highly durable and exceptionally comfortable for the patient, overcoming the previous acrylic compromise.This dramatically improved patient compliance and quality of life. Most notably, the pervasive issue of appliance fractures was virtually eliminated. Daily breakage complaints and the associated clinical time spent on repairs vanished, with only a handful of true fractures occurring per year across thousands of appliances. This significantly enhanced patient safety and confidence.
The digital workflow streamlined operations, enabling technicians to handle greater design volumes and eliminating the delays and mess associated with physical molds and manual acrylic work. "Compared to the very labor-intensive and messy process of creating appliances by hand, our EOS-based production is a much cleaner, more efficient digital operation", summarizes Talpis. The ability to easily remake appliances from stored digital files provided major efficiency gains compared to starting from scratch. The consistent accuracy and reproducibility of the EOS FORMIGA P 110 systems ensured reliable part quality and fit, reducing adjustment time. AM has become fundamental to 3D Sleep's integrated model, supporting their growth and expansion into markets like Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, and beyond.
"With traditional acrylic methods, even a really good technician could only make three or four appliances a day; it was a small-scale process heavily dependent on individual skill, which limited our ability to grow before adopting additive manufacturing."
Dr. Ken Lee, Co-Director at 3D Sleep
Results at a glance:
- Virtually eliminated appliance fractures, significantly reducing patient complaints and emergency repairs
- Reduced appliance thickness to 0.5–1 mm, improving patient comfort without compromising strength
- Streamlined digital workflow, replacing messy manual processes and enabling faster turnaround times
- Increased design throughput per technician, allowing labs to scale without increasing headcount
- Enabled fast, compliant remanufacturing from stored digital files
- Reduced adjustment time during fitting, thanks to consistent accuracy from EOS 3D printing.
"Using nylon with the EOS system finally allowed us to get the best of both worlds – producing appliances that are really comfortable for the patient and very durable at the same time, overcoming the previous compromises required with acrylic."
Dr. Ken Lee, Co-Director at 3D Sleep
"Before switching to the durable nylon appliances produced with EOS technology, we would get daily phone calls from patients complaining about broken acrylic parts; that problem has now been eliminated."
Dr. Sam Talpis, Co-Director at 3D Sleep
Short Company Profile
3D Sleep is an Australian dental sleep medicine company specialising in the design and production of advanced oral appliances for snoring, sleep apnoea, and bruxism. Through the integration of digital workflows and additive manufacturing, 3D Sleep delivers durable and comfortable devices that improve patient safety and clinician efficiency.
Further Information: https://3dsleep.com.au/
