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Three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies have gained attention in dentistry because of their ability to print objects with complex geometries with high precision and accuracy, as well as the benefits of saving materials and treatment time. This study aims to explain the principles of the main 3D printing technologies used for manufacturing dental prostheses and devices, with details of their manufacturing processes and characteristics. This review presents an overview of available 3D printing technologies and materials for dental prostheses and devices.

This review was targeted to include publications pertaining to the fabrication of dental prostheses and devices by 3D printing technologies between 2012 and 2021. A literature search was carried out using the Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar search engines, as well as the use of a manual search.

3D printing technologies have been used for manufacturing dental prostheses and devices using a wide range of materials, including polymers, metals and ceramics. 3D printing technologies have demonstrated promising experimental outcomes for the fabrication of dental prostheses and devices. However, further developments in the materials for fixed dental prostheses are required.

3D printing technologies are effective and commercially available for the manufacturing of polymeric and metallic dental prostheses. Although the printing of dental ceramics and composites for dental prostheses is promising, further improvements are required.

This paper aims to present a new design in the area of basal osseointegrated implant (BOI) for oral and maxillofacial surgery using a patient-specific computer-aided design (CAD) and additive manufacturing (AM) approach. The BOI was designed and fabricated according to the patient’s specific requirement, of maxilla stabilisation and dental fixation, a capacity not currently available in conventional BOI. The combination of CAD and AM techniques provides a powerful approach for optimisation and realisation of the implant in a design which helps to minimise blood loss and surgery time, translating into better patient outcomes and reduced financial burdens on healthcare providers.

The current study integrates the capabilities of conventional medical imaging techniques, CAD and metal AM to realise the BOI. The patient’s anatomy was scanned using a 128-slice spiral computed tomography scanner into a standard Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) data output. The DICOM data are processed using MIMICS software to construct a digital representative patient model to aid the design process, and the final customised implant was designed using Creo software. The final, surgically implanted BOI was fabricated using direct metal laser sintering in titanium (Ti-64).

The current approach assisted us to design BOI customised to the patient’s unique anatomy to improve patient outcomes. The design realises a nerve relieving option and placement of porous structure at the required area based up on the analysis of patient bone structural data.

The novelty in this work is that developed BOI comprises a patient-specific design that allows for custom fabrication around the patients' nerves, provides structural support to the compromised maxilla and comprises a dual abutment design, with the capacity of supporting fixation of up to four teeth. Conventional BOIs are only available for a signal abutment capable of holding one or two teeth only. Given the customised nature of the design, the concept could easily be extended to explore a greater number of fixation abutments, abutment length/location, adjusted dental fixation size or greater levels of maxilla support. The study highlights the significance of CAD packages to construct patient-specific solution directly from medical imaging data, and the efficiency of metal AM to translate designs into a functional implant.

Medical devices are undergoing rapid changes because of the increasing affordability of advanced technologies like additive manufacturing (AM) and three-dimensional scanning. New avenues are available for providing solutions and comfort that were not previously conceivable. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the research on developing prostheses using AM to understand the opportunities and challenges in the domain. Various studies on prosthesis development using AM are investigated to explore the scope of integration of AM in prostheses development.

A review of key publications from the past two decades was conducted. Integration of AM and prostheses development is reviewed from the technologies, materials and functionality point of view to identify challenges, opportunities and future scope.

AM in prostheses provides superior physical and cognitive ergonomics and reduced cost and delivery time. Patient-specific, lightweight solutions for complex designs improve comfort, functionality and clinical outcomes. Compared to existing procedures and methodologies, using AM technologies in prosthetics could benefit a large population.

This paper helps investigate the impact of AM and related technology in the field of prosthetics and can also be viewed as a collection of relevant medical research and findings.

This paper seeks to investigate the possibility of producing medical or dental parts by selective laser melting (SLM). Rapid Manufacturing could be very suitable for these applications due to their complex geometry, low volume and strong individualization.

The SLM‐process has been optimized and fully characterized for two biocompatible metal alloys: Ti‐6Al‐4V and Co‐Cr‐Mo. Mechanical and chemical properties were tested and geometrical feasibility, including process accuracy and surface roughness, was discussed by benchmark studies. By developing a procedure to fabricate frameworks for complex dental prostheses, the potential of SLM as a medical manufacturing technique has been proved.

Optimized SLM parameters lead to part densities up to 99.98 percent for titanium. Strength and stiffness, corrosion behavior, and process accuracy fulfil requirements for medical or dental parts. Surface roughness analyses show some limitations of the SLM process. Dental frameworks can be produced efficiently and with high precision.

This study presents the state‐of‐the‐art in SLM of biocompatible metals by thoroughly testing material and part properties. It shows opportunities for using SLM for medical or dental applications.

This paper aims to improve the efficiency and the quality of metal dental prostheses, reporting on the first patient‐fitted titanium (Ti) complete denture base plate fabricated by integrating the technologies of computer‐aided design and computer‐aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) and laser rapid forming (LRF).

To make a complete Ti denture base plate, the traditional lost‐wax‐casting technique is commonly used in dentistry. In order to simplify this labor‐intensive process, a new method combined with LRF was invented. Initially, a maxillary edentulous plaster cast was converted to point cloud data by laser scanning system. Subsequently, point cloud data were reconstructed into a 3D solid digital cast, which is stored in standard triangulation language format. Thereafter the 3D denture base was sliced electronically into a sequence of layers defining the regions of the component and, based on it, the complete Ti denture base plate was built layer‐by‐layer using a laser additive manufacturing technology.

After CAD/CAM/LRF process, the Ti denture base plate was designed and successfully fabricated layer‐by‐layer. After the traditional dental finishing techniques, the complete Ti denture base plate was made and assessed by clinician and patient. The clinical evaluation on quality of fit was judged to be acceptable.

The CAD/CAM/LRF system is a potential candidate to replace the traditional lost‐wax‐casting technique and provides a new platform for the design and manufacturing of custom‐made Ti denture plates and other restorations especially for implant substructure and framework of partial removal of denture.

The purpose of this study is to obtain the optimal three-dimensional (3D) printing condition through the accuracy evaluation of the protective dental splints (PDSs) produced using 3D printed dental casts under various conditions.

The dental casts of dentiform were made using the conventional method and three digital methods. The three 3D printers used one or two materials for each, and the density of the material was varied to find the appropriate printing condition. PDSs were fabricated by the same method using vacuum former on conventional dental casts, and 3D printed dental casts. PDSs were mounted on a dentiform, and the accuracy was measured according to the criteria.

All of the PDSs fabricated using the traditional method showed the highest accuracy, whereas the PDSs made using 3D printed casts showed accuracies that varied with the type of printer, material characteristics and printing density. Achieving the accuracy required for 3D printed dental casts to be used as protective dental devices made with a vacuum former requires appropriate materials and 3D printing density. The findings of this study can be used when making 3D printed models and individual PDSs through intraoral scanning for patients in whom it is difficult to take impressions using traditional methods.

When a digital device is applied to the fabrication of PDSs, it has the advantage of saving time and materials and preventing damage to teeth and periodontal tissue that may occur during the conventional method.

This study aims to broaden the understanding of the additive manufacturing (AM) body of knowledge, presenting a model better suited to the current level of technological development that supports the decision to implement AM in industries, based on the experience of companies in the industry of orthopedic medical implants.

Based on the design-science research, the model for the decision to adopt the AM was designed and submitted to experts from the industry of orthopedic implants in Brazil for refinement. For the empirical test of the final model, interviews were used in a company that was considering implementing AM and in another that was not, to evaluate the model.

The model considers seven dimensions for decision analysis of AM implementation: legal constraints, financial, technological, operational, organizational, supply chain and external factors, being subdivided into 42 criteria that play a relevant role in the implementation decision. The analysis factor of each dimension and criteria are also presented.

The model seeks to be as complete as possible and can be used by various industrial productive sectors, incorporating the analysis of the requirements of health regulatory agencies, suitable for the analysis of the decision to implement AM for the manufacturing of medical implants, not found in other models.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the requirements for long‐term implantation of electronic devices with a focus on packaging and encapsulation.

Owing to their intended long‐term use in the human body, implants for electrical stimulation present specific challenges to the engineers. The respective roles of packaging and encapsulation must be clearly understood to make the most of new materials and modern machining technologies. This paper offers an introduction to the current situation and highlights challenges for future developments.

The innovative application of modern technologies may be useful to tackle key issues of encapsulation and sealing of small electrical devices for long‐term implantation.

Two examples of innovative application of alternative package manufacture and sealing method are described.

This bibliography is offered as a practical guide to published papers, conference proceedings papers and theses/dissertations on the finite element (FE) and boundary element (BE) applications in different fields of biomechanics between 1976 and 1991. The aim of this paper is to help the users of FE and BE techniques to get better value from a large collection of papers on the subjects. Categories in biomechanics included in this survey are: orthopaedic mechanics, dental mechanics, cardiovascular mechanics, soft tissue mechanics, biological flow, impact injury, and other fields of applications. More than 900 references are listed.

This paper aims to automatically obtain the implant parameter from the CBCT images to improve the outcome of implant planning.

This paper proposes automatic simulated dental implant positioning on CBCT images, which can significantly improve the efficiency of implant planning. The authors introduce the fusion point calculation method for the missing tooth's long axis and root axis based on the dental arch line used to obtain the optimal fusion position. In addition, the authors proposed a semi-interactive visualization method of implant parameters that be automatically simulated by the authors' method. If the plan does not meet the doctor's requirements, the final implant plan can be fine-tuned to achieve the optimal effect.

A series of experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper greatly improves the feasibility and accuracy of the implant planning scheme, and the visualization method of planting parameters improves the planning efficiency and the friendliness of system use.

The proposed method can be applied to dental implant planning software to improve the communication efficiency between doctors, patients and technicians.