Dandy desires to do for dental labs what trendy factories did for smartphones: make high-quality merchandise, quick, at scale, with out dropping the {custom} match sufferers want. In an interview with 3DPrint.com, Dandy’s Vice President of Robotics & Superior Manufacturing, Sriny Sundararajan, defined how the corporate is “stitching collectively 3D printing, AI, and robotics to ship mass customization” for crowns, bridges, dentures, evening guards, implants, and clear aligners.
Based in 2020 and primarily based in New York Metropolis, Dandy has already raised over $170 million from high traders to remodel the $30 billion dental laboratory business. The corporate has surpassed $100 million in income in its first two years, constructed digital factories in Utah and Texas, and at the moment works with greater than 6,000 dentists throughout the U.S. Its absolutely built-in mannequin covers every thing from intraoral scanning to AI-assisted design, 3D printed prosthetics, and robotic ending, all below one roof.
“Dandy controls the complete workflow, making it one of many few vertically built-in gamers on this multi-billion greenback dental lab business,” Sundararajan emphasised. “Right this moment, we’re in a change part the place we’re utilizing robotics and AI as effectively, AI on the design facet, and robotics on the manufacturing facet. Extra importantly, we’re making use of additive manufacturing at scale.”
Robotics at work in Dandy’s digital dental lab.
Vertical integration (with 3D printing on the heart)
In a nutshell, Dandy doesn’t promote manufacturing automation gear, not less than but. As an alternative, it runs a vertically built-in lab: dentists scan sufferers chairside, whereas Dandy handles design and manufacturing in its factories in Utah and Texas.
Sundararajan in contrast this method to Tesla’s mannequin: “Very similar to Tesla, which oversees every thing from design to manufacturing in its factories, Dandy is vertically built-in. It begins with the gadget that scans the affected person’s mouth. From there, we deal with the digital design of the dental equipment and transfer it straight into our personal factories for manufacturing. The one step we don’t handle instantly is the ultimate supply, which works out by UPS or FedEx.”
3D printing sits proper on the coronary heart of that workflow, particularly for removables like full or partial dentures and evening guards, that are generally printed at the moment. Mounted merchandise like crowns and bridges are usually milled, however every thing after printing or milling nonetheless requires detailed ending to match every affected person’s distinctive anatomy. That’s additionally the half Dandy is working to automate.
Whereas Dandy doesn’t disclose the precise manufacturers of printers it makes use of, the broader dental business has been transferring towards large-format resin methods purpose-built for top throughput. Over time, 3DPrint.com has been following how labs depend on machines like Carbon’s L1, EnvisionTEC’s Xtreme 8K, Stratasys’ J5 DentaJet, and 3D Programs’ Determine 4 Modular. These platforms are able to producing hundreds of crowns, dentures, or fashions per day, making them splendid for the size that corporations like Dandy are concentrating on.
Inside Dandy’s automated manufacturing line.
Mass customization (a “SKU of 1” downside)
Sundararajan has quite a bit to do with Dandy’s method. He spent years scaling automation at Apple through the iPhone’s explosive progress, and later constructing digital twin software program. What drew him to dental was the possibility to use that sort of scale to merchandise the place each unit is completely different.
Sriny Sundararajan.
“At Apple, we had been producing a big quantity of the identical SKU [Stock Keeping Unit] each time. Right here, each product is exclusive,” Sundararajan stated — what he calls a “SKU of 1.” In different phrases, every equipment is its personal distinct merchandise, custom-made for a single affected person. “If I may give it on the scale at which we will do a smartphone, then now we have unlocked one thing huge, and robotics is a key factor of that.”
That’s additionally why Dandy doesn’t construct each part from scratch. As an alternative of reinventing the wheel, the staff integrates confirmed constructing blocks, together with industrial robots, printers, and different {hardware}, and writes the application-specific software program and course of round them.
“We don’t make our personal printers; as an alternative, we take commercially accessible printers and combine them into {custom} methods constructed for our functions. Consider it like we don’t make our personal steering, however we’re making our personal automobile. We supply the robots, assemble the methods, and collaborate with third events to construct the machines. Our focus is on the appliance itself: understanding the precise issues in dental manufacturing and tailoring the expertise to resolve them.”
His group has grown to 30 engineers prior to now six months to drive that integration.
AI for inspection and design (turning defects into knowledge)
“If robotics is precision palms, AI is the additional set of eyes. We’re utilizing pc imaginative and prescient and machine studying to catch defects that usually depend on a technician’s subjective visible examine. We’ve got constructed what I name an AOI, or automated optical inspection. We’re utilizing an AI mannequin to study from defects within the guide course of, after which use cameras to seize dozens of photos of a crown and apply that AI mannequin to seek out defects. Normally, it’s performed visually with a shade tab. We’ve got automated it utilizing cameras and AI.”
On the entrance finish, Dandy’s digital workflow additionally adjustments how dentists work. In keeping with Sundararajan, the corporate is the primary to supply dwell design evaluations throughout scanning, permitting Dandy’s consultants to attach with a dentist in actual time, present rapid suggestions, and assist stop errors that will in any other case require re-scans or further affected person visits.
Robotic system handles dental restorations throughout ending.
Relating to manufacturing, Sundararajan didn’t share the precise figures, however identified that Dandy’s output is already within the hundreds of items per day, a leap in comparison with conventional dental labs that common round 50 circumstances.
Relating to supplies, zirconia dominates mounted restorations like crowns and bridges due to its energy and sturdiness. For detachable units reminiscent of dentures and evening guards, Dandy makes use of resins, together with some proprietary blends. Veneers are additionally a part of the combination, typically made with e.max, a ceramic materials thought-about each sturdy and natural-looking.
Why scale issues to sufferers (and dentists)
In the event you’ve ever waited days for a crown that didn’t match, the ache. Sundararajan desires to vary that have.
“The largest problem with conventional processes is that the equipment typically doesn’t match. It must be reworked domestically, and generally sufferers are despatched residence and requested to return. The place I see dentistry going is towards a extra seamless expertise — you are available as soon as, and every thing is taken care of earlier than you allow. That sort of consumer expertise is the dream.”
At scale, this issues for each sufferers and apply economics. Quicker, extra dependable turnaround means dentists can plan care with confidence and sufferers keep away from repeat visits.
“With automation, we will produce higher high quality merchandise and supply items throughout the dedicated time,” he stated. “There’s no delay as a result of any individual didn’t present as much as work. Plus, having it within the U.S. and serving the wants of the U.S. goes to be the important thing differentiator.”
The toughest downside to automate (and why Dandy focuses there)
For any dental technician, ending is the place artwork meets science. Matching the shade, translucency, and floor texture of the affected person’s mouth is a person expertise, one thing Sundararajan compares to a fingerprint. Based mostly on an individual’s behaviors, the colour and shade of their tooth differ. As a result of it’s an inventive work, no person has been in a position to scale this a part of the enterprise. However the govt says Dandy is bringing robotics into the ending stage to resolve that downside.
That is additionally why additive is so helpful past simply printing shells or fashions. Layer-by-layer management, mixed with imaginative and prescient methods, AOI, and exact movement, creates that desired path to repeatable personalization.
Customized dental crowns being processed below automated ending gear.
Sundararajan believes now could be the second when the dental lab business shifts from guide craft to a digital scale: “Dental is at an inflection level. With what Dandy has achieved with its platform, automation goes to be the important thing.”
Current firm strikes again that up. In April, Dandy appointed Cong Yu as Head of Engineering, a former Google Analysis scientist and VP of Engineering at Celonis, and stated it could triple engineering and R&D funding in 2025. The corporate additionally reported surpassing $100 million in income in its first two years, and plans to rent greater than 50 engineers this 12 months throughout areas like superior geometry, CAD, and clever manufacturing methods.
Sundararajan’s purpose is aggressive: “Our goal is to achieve scale throughout the subsequent 12 months, if potential.”
For now, Dandy is concentrated 100% on dental. There’s nonetheless loads of room to develop, with tens of hundreds of thousands of Individuals counting on crowns, dentures, or orthodontics (and with each case being distinctive).
“In the event you solely want personalised healthcare in small volumes, people do it greatest. However if you wish to make {custom} manufacturing reasonably priced, then scale is necessary. And if you wish to obtain this at scale, the one method is by means of AI and robotics, robotics for precision, and AI on the design facet.”
He’s seen this earlier than at Apple and believes dental is headed the identical method, “from artisanal bottlenecks to digital, automated, patient-friendly workflows.”
“For the final hundred years, dental has been guide and craftsmanship,” he concluded. “We’re undoubtedly attempting to disrupt the business and make the expertise higher for the top consumer.”
Photographs courtesy of Dandy
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