Bant Dental has built a reputation as a forward-thinking dental laboratory, blending traditional expertise with modern digital solutions. From its beginnings as a small lab in Wales, the family-run business has grown significantly, now operating from a state-of-the-art facility in Macclesfield, Cheshire.
Co-Owner Steve Bant said: “Here at Bant Dental we like to think of ourselves as a forward-thinking company. When I started back in 1990, everything was analogue based. But as time went on, digital started to creep in and, as it stands today, we are 95% digital.”
This commitment to technology drives the lab to continually improve efficiency, accuracy and the quality of dental products, particularly dentures, surgical guides and models.
Project Brief:
As the lab grew, traditional analogue workflows were increasingly limiting. Producing dentures, models, surgical guides and special trays required multiple steps and significant manual effort.
Over the last few years, Bant Dental has expanded considerably.
Dan Bant, Digital Lab Manager, said: “The business as a whole started out in Wales as a small laboratory. We opened up a separate facility in Macclesfield and since then we’ve grown even more.
“We’ve moved into a new facility here in Macclesfield, which is now pretty much our full laboratory.
“In the lab, we’ve got some really high-end machinery but we knew we needed to up our game in the printing world.”
The laboratory needed a 3D printing solution that could improve production speed, maintain exceptional accuracy and offer full-colour, multi-material printing to support its growing workload.
The Solution:
Bant Dental invested in the Stratasys J5 DentaJet, supplied and installed by Stratasys UK Platinum Partner SYS Systems.
Designed specifically for the dental market, the J5 allows users to print fully-customisable, full-colour, monolithic dental parts, including dentures, surgical guides, models and much more.
Dan said: “We came across the J5 for the first time at the Dental Technology Showcase in 2024. From seeing it, instantly we knew it was something that we were really keen on.”
Initially, the J5 was capable of producing models, implant models, guides and special trays all in a single run. The approval of TrueDent resin for use in the UK opened up a whole new range of possibilities of 3D printing full-colour, monolithic dentures.
Steve said: “We bought the J5 specifically to print dentures. When we first had it though, TrueDent wasn’t in the UK at the time, so we were using it to print models, implant models, guides, special trays, you name it.
“But the beauty of it was we would print them all on one run, all on the same run. We could print colour models. The accuracy of the implant models was absolutely perfect.”
Once TrueDent resin became available in the UK, Bant Dental began printing full-colour monolithic dentures.
Steve added: “Coming from a background of analogue dentures, I’ve found that TrueDent denture resin is on a par with analogue dentures. If not better.
“The ability to print in colour is next level in my mind. You can alter the colour of the gingiva; you can give it depth; you can add translucency onto the tips of the teeth. The teeth have actually got depth. And, they look fantastic.”
The J5’s multi-material capabilities allow Bant Dental to produce dentures, surgical guides and models simultaneously, saving time and eliminating manual bonding steps.
The Benefits:
The J5 DentaJet has transformed production at Bant Dental.
Steve said: “The speed, the accuracy, is just next level. The amount of work that we produce today, we’d need at least three times more the number of staff.”
Dan also highlighted the improvement to workflow: “The ability to print different parts at the same time in different materials, such as surgical guides, dentures, models and removing that luting step just helped our workflow massively, it’s improved it 100%.”
The printer allows multiple dental components to be printed in a single run. Dentures can now be produced in full colour with realistic depth and translucency, removing labour-intensive steps and reducing potential errors.
The combination of the J5’s capabilities and TrueDent resin enables Bant Dental to deliver consistent, high-quality results faster and more reliably than ever before.
Why SYS Systems?
SYS Systems has been a trusted partner throughout Bant Dental’s digital journey. From initial introduction to ongoing support, the SYS team has provided expert guidance and technical assistance, ensuring the lab gets the most from its Stratasys technology.
Dan said: “Working with SYS since we first met them at the DTS has been great. The support we’ve had with the printer since we’ve had it has been second to none.
“For us as a business, there’s only one UK reseller of Stratasys and that’s SYS. So if anyone is interested in getting on board with this technology, then I’d get in touch with SYS.”