Most dental offices send your nightguard, retainer or surgical guide out to a distant lab and ask you to wait a week or two. At Kentfield Dental, we 3D-print many of these appliances on-site with our Formlabs printers — so Marin patients can finish in fewer trips and, in many cases, leave with their appliance the very same day. It's a fully digital, in-house workflow that most practices in the area simply don't offer.
What is in-house dental 3D printing?
In-house 3D printing means we manufacture custom dental appliances inside our own Kentfield practice instead of mailing impressions to an outside laboratory. We start with a digital scan of your mouth — no goopy molds — then design your appliance on screen and print it layer by layer on a Formlabs resin printer using dental-grade, biocompatible materials.
The range of things we can print is wide: clear retainers and custom nightguards, surgical guides that help direct precise implant placement, accurate study models for treatment planning, and temporary crowns and veneers. Because the whole workflow stays digital and stays under one roof, the fit tends to be highly accurate, the turnaround is often dramatically shorter, and there's no lost time shipping cases back and forth across the Bay. For many Marin patients, that means one calm visit instead of two.
How we 3D-print appliances in our Kentfield office
Your appointment begins with a digital intraoral scan — our 3Shape and Primescan 2 scanners capture your teeth and bite in high resolution, completely mold-free. From there, Dr. Soroush Ghaffarpour ("Dr. G") and our team design your appliance digitally, refining the fit and aesthetics on screen before anything is made. The finished design is sent to our on-site Formlabs printer, which builds it with precision dental resins, and we cure, finish, polish and fit it for you.
Keeping every step in-house is what lets us move quickly. For many appliances — nightguards, temporaries, retainers — we can often print and deliver the same day, sparing you a second trip from Greenbrae, Ross, Larkspur or wherever home is. For implant and surgical cases, we pair printing with our Vatech Green X12 low-dose CBCT 3D imaging so surgical guides are planned and produced with real anatomical accuracy. It's the same digital-first philosophy that powers our CEREC same-day crowns — design it, make it, fit it, all in one place, right here in Kentfield.
- Formlabs resin 3D printers producing appliances on-site, often same day
- 3Shape and Primescan 2 digital scanning — no traditional impressions
- Vatech Green X12 low-dose CBCT for accurate surgical-guide planning
- Biocompatible, dental-grade printing materials
- Integrated with our in-house CEREC and digital design workflow
Why patients choose us for this
Often ready the same day
Because we print on-site rather than shipping to an outside lab, many nightguards, retainers and temporaries can be designed and delivered in a single visit — no two-week wait.
A precise, custom fit
Digital scans capture your teeth in fine detail, and a tighter all-digital workflow means appliances designed to seat comfortably and function well for your bite.
No goopy impressions
Everything starts with a comfortable digital scan instead of a tray of impression material — easier for patients who gag or feel anxious, and highly accurate too.
Fewer trips to the office
Marin patients driving in from Mill Valley, San Rafael, Tiburon or Novato appreciate getting things done in one visit instead of returning days later to pick up a lab case.
Surgical precision when it counts
Printed surgical guides, planned from low-dose 3D CBCT scans, are designed to help direct implant placement accurately — a level of planning many general offices outsource entirely.
Your design, reproducible
Your digital files stay on record, so a replacement retainer or nightguard can often be re-printed from the same precise design rather than starting over with new molds.
What to expect
Digital scan
We capture your teeth and bite with a fast, comfortable intraoral scanner — no impression trays, no mess. For surgical cases we add a low-dose CBCT 3D scan.
Digital design
Dr. G and our team design your appliance on screen, fine-tuning the fit, thickness and aesthetics before anything is manufactured.
On-site printing
Your design goes to our in-house Formlabs printer, which builds the appliance layer by layer in precise, biocompatible dental resin — frequently the same day.
Finish & fit
We cure, finish and polish the appliance, then fit it in your mouth and adjust as needed so it feels right before you leave.
Your comfort matters. Every appliance starts with a comfortable digital scan instead of goopy impression trays, which is much easier for patients who gag or feel anxious — and finishing in fewer visits helps keep the whole experience calm and low-stress.
Is in-house 3D printing right for you?
If you need a custom appliance and would rather not wait two weeks for a lab — or you simply value the precision of a fully digital workflow — our in-house 3D printing may be a great fit. It's especially welcome for anxious patients and anyone who finds traditional impressions unpleasant, since the process begins with a comfortable digital scan. During your visit in our Kentfield office, Dr. G will confirm whether your specific case can be printed on-site and how quickly.
- You grind or clench and need a custom nightguard, ideally without the wait
- You've finished orthodontic treatment and need durable, well-fitting retainers
- You're planning a dental implant and want guided, 3D-planned precision
- You dislike or gag on traditional putty impressions
- You'd prefer to finish in fewer visits rather than return days later for a lab case
Frequently asked questions
A dentist can 3D-print custom nightguards, clear retainers, surgical guides for implants, accurate study models, and temporary crowns and veneers. In our Kentfield office these are produced on Formlabs printers, frequently the same day, rather than being sent to an outside lab.
Many 3D-printed appliances can be ready the same day. Because we scan, design and print on-site in Kentfield, there's no week-or-two wait for a lab to ship the case back — though more complex cases may take a little longer, and we'll tell you exactly what to expect.
A well-made 3D-printed appliance can fit and perform comparably to a lab-made one. Printed appliances use biocompatible, dental-grade materials and start from a precise digital scan, so the fit is often as accurate as — or more accurate than — a putty-impression appliance, and typically faster to make.
No — the process starts with a comfortable digital intraoral scan using our 3Shape and Primescan systems, so there are no goopy impression trays. This is easier for patients who gag or feel anxious, and it's highly accurate.
A 3D-printed surgical guide is a custom template designed to help direct precise implant placement. We plan it from a low-dose Vatech CBCT 3D scan and print it on-site, giving your implant surgery a level of guided accuracy many general offices outsource.
Often, yes. We keep your digital design on file, so a replacement can typically be re-printed from the same precise data rather than starting over with new molds — just call our Kentfield office.
Yes — we welcome patients from Kentfield, Greenbrae, Larkspur, Ross, San Anselmo, Mill Valley, Tiburon, San Rafael, Novato and throughout Marin County. Call (415) 456-5402 to ask about same-day appliance options.