
Prof. Masahiro Ryu
Associate Professor, Department of Removable
Prosthodontics and Gerodontology,
Tokyo Dental College
DIGITAL DENTURES AND AGING SOCIETY
Consider the usefulness of digital dentures!
An Online Course
This online course is provided through a partnership with Japan Denture Professionals
Consider the usefulness of digital dentures!
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Digital dentures and their digital workflow.
- Adaptation of the denture base plates, and fit accuracy of digital dentures.
- Benefits of 3D printed and Milling dentures.
- Physical characteristics and durability of the digital dentures’ materials.
- Recommended digital dentures materials and systems.
Introduction to the course
In recent years, aging is progressing rapidly all over the world and related to that the need for dental treatment for older patients, needs for denture treatment such as complete dentures is expected to continue to grow.
Traditionally fabricating the complete dentures usually requires 5-6 visits and many dental technician steps. The quality of the denture depends not only on the proficiency of the dentist and dental technician, but also on deformation of the impression and the model, and deformation during polymerization. The number of younger dental technicians is also declining in Japan. Currently there is a risk of dental technicians shortage and the percentage of older dental technicians are more than younger generations today. Since the conventional method requires many technical steps, as I mentioned, the traditional way of fabricating dentures is now facing various problems in an aging society.
On the other hand, digital dentures’ evolution has been remarkable in recent years. But if you are not familiar with digital dentures you may have so many questions like?
What is a typical digital denture and digital workflow?
What are the improvements?
Are there any issues related to the adaptation of the denture base plates and fit accuracy?
What are the benefits of 3D printed and Milled dentures?
What about the physical characteristics and durability of the materials?
What are the recommended materials and systems for denture milling and 3D printing?
As a Dentist that specializes in digital dentures, I assure that the adaptation of digital technology into dentistry is extremely effective for solving these problems. You can benefit from digital dentures advantages like reducing the number of patients visits, reducing technical work processes, standardization of high-quality dentures, ease of remanufacturing from previous data and so on.
Recently, several digital denture manufacturing systems have been established successfully with technological improvements. We will present digital denture manufacturing, system features, and the benefit and possibility of digital dentures in an aging society.
Part 1 | Aging society and removable dentures
We include practical examples of DENTCA, which can be manufactured in a short time!
The world population is aging rapidly. In many countries, the average life expectancy is increasing thanks to the modern development of medical care. When the percentage of elderly patients increases, demand for those patients’ dental treatment tends to arise as well, such as complete dentures. It is believed that there are various needs and additional care required when making dentures for elderly patients (more than +65),
For example, Some patients may have difficulties with frequent visits to the clinics. Some patients need to make dentures in a short time. Other elderly patients can’t visit because they may need long-term care in the nursing home etc.
End of the day practitioners may find it difficult to instruct and fabricate dentures in a traditional way for those patients. In this content, I will explain the reason why the topic of digital dentures is linked to denture treatment in an aging society and how digital dentures can transform your practice today.

Part 2 | The usefulness of the digital denture in an aging society
Switching to Digital technologies affects the number of patients visiting!
Fabricating the complete dentures usually requires 5-6 visits and many dental technician steps. The quality of the denture depends not only on the proficiency of the dentist and dental technician, but also on deformation of the impression and the model, and deformation during polymerization. The introduction of digital technology into dentistry is extremely effective as a method to solve these problems.
In this content, you can learn about the usefulness of digital dentures in an aging society.
Analog vs Digital workflows comparison
Reduction of clinical time & patients comfort.
Digital workflows for improving time efficiency
What’s the future of digital dentures?
Will digital be an effective tool for making dentures for patients that cannot be done by a conventional method?

Part 3 | Digital denture fabrication systems
Digital denture fabrication systems strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations. How to organize and modify your current system and practical tips that you can try out right after attending the course!
Recently, with the progress of technology, several digital denture fabrication systems have already been established. In this content, I will introduce 2 representative fabrication systems: Milled denture and 3D printed denture.
A. Milled denture:
- Benefits of Milling Denture
- Milling denture workflow
- Try-in denture
- Denture base
- Artificial teeth
- Fit and accuracy
- Comparison of materials
B. 3D printed denture:
Benefits of 3D printed denture
- 3D printed denture workflow
- Cost-effectiveness
- Fit and accuracy
- Comparison of materials
- Try-in denture
- Denture base
- Artificial teeth
- Curing protocol for 3D printed dentures?
- How are the materials flexible and strength?

Part 4 | Potential of the digital denture in the aging society
Digital dentures can be the solution for cases that are too difficult for the conventional method!
There are various needs when making dentures for elderly patients, such as not having frequent visits and instructing difficulty for elderly patients who need long-term care.
Therefore, there are still some difficult cases even with the digital denture fabrication systems I have introduced above. However, we have modified digital denture manufacturing systems that can solve those problems and make digital dentures with only a few adjustments even for difficult cases.
In this content, you can learn about the fabrication of digital dentures in the aging society and their possibility.
- Possibility of the digital denture
Digital denture fabricated by duplicating the patient’s denture
Soft silicone relining 3D printed denture

Quiz |Test your knowledge!
You will be given 12 questions with several possible answers to examine how much you learned from this Online course. A certificate will be issued to you upon successfully passed the quiz.
Certificate |Get a professional certificate!
Upon successful completion of the course, you will get a certificate of continuing professional development in Digitodontics with 1 CPD credit from Digitodontics International Academy.
Questions | Frequently asked questions
Q | Is the published price for all 4 video parts and how long is each part?
A | Yes, the price is for all videos
Aging society and removable dentures (21:18)
The usefulness of the digital denture in an aging society (07:03)
Digital denture fabrication systems (24:01)
Possibility of the digital denture in the aging society (33:57)
Q | How many CPD credits will I earn for this course?
A | Upon successful completion of the course, you will get a certificate of continuing professional development in Digitodontics with 1 CPD credit from Digitodontics International Academy.
Q | After purchasing the online course, how long can I access it?
A | You can have access 24/7 for 3 months after purchase.
Q | Does it include clinical cases?
A | Yes, it does.