3Shape: a Driving Force in Scanners & CAD Software

By Kim Molinaro

Posted Apr 28, 2011 in Digital Dentistry


How does a company become a powerhouse in two industries in just nine years? Just ask 3Shape A/S. In 2000, the company was launched in a basement by two students--Tais Clausen and Nikolaj Deichmann--at the Technical University of Denmark. Today, the company has a staff of 120, locations in five countries and offers one of the most widely used scanner/software packages for CAD design for both the hearing aid and dental laboratory markets.



The launching pad for the company was Clausen's master's degree engineering project on 3D scanners. He soon realized the real-world application of his concept to the hearing aid industry and 3Shape was born. Similar to a dental restoration, in-the-ear hearing aid shells need to be custom fit to each patient's hearing canal and they're traditionally made by taking an ear impression that is then manually sculpted, cut and used to make a mold. The mold is used to create the shell, which is then adjusted in the ear using...

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About The Author

  • Kim Molinaro

    Managing Editor at LMT Communications, Inc. · West Hartford, CT

    In her 25+ years with LMT, Kim has managed to combine her creative flair—infusing energy into our content and orchestrating some of our most popular theme issues—with the practical focus of keeping our processes...

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