It isn’t. i use sculpy all the time in sculptures, and even after cured it is similar to plastic. there is no way it would be strong enough or durable enough to be used in most dental applications for any tooth you chew with, but it might be fine for cosmetic applications.
that being said, in certain applications, stronger materials also have drawbacks as they can cause excess wear on opposing teeth if the bite isn’t properly adjusted. at least sculpy doesn’t run that risk, unlike stronger materials like porcelain.
Aren’t FIMO and Sculpey also toxic? I used to sell the stuff in the early 90’s, and IIRC they gave off toxic fumes during baking.
And I wouldn’t even rate them as as strong as most regular consumer plastics. If you took the kind of plastics used to make a typical disposable cup and made a tooth out of it I think you would have something a lot more durable than something from one of the popular modeling clay products.
Also, the makers of Sculpey recommend against using it to make utensils or containers for food. So I imagine it’s not recommended for making something you keep in your mouth all the ding dang time…
I agree we shouldn’t have people making medical appliances (teeth or otherwise) from unknown or non-medical safe materials, but we also have an insurance system in the US that treats anything that’s not a dental emergency as a cosmetic issue, thus not well-covered or covered at all.
Your option if you crack a tooth or have severe decay…? Get it pulled. Not having a functional teeth is “cosmetic”. Dental implants are far out of reach for most people, bridges are destructive in their own right, and dentures are a stopgap (no pun intended).
With the rise of 3D scanning and printing, we should be entering a renaissance of dentistry, but again, you ask people on the street, and they know about laser teeth whitening, but the idea that we might be able to remedy significant dental issues is not only unknown, but still remains out of reach for many financially.
