Review Article

Main Applications and Recent Research Progresses of Additive Manufacturing in Dentistry

Table 2

Application of AM technology in maxillofacial surgery.

AuthorApplicationCasesScanningSoftwareMaterialProcessMain results

Melville et al. [127]Surgery guide and fixation plate in maxillary reconstruction1MRI; CBCTProPlan (Materialise, USA)Titanium; polyamideSLS; FDMPrecisely correspond to the surgical defect
Ideally restore the maxilla and midface
Shorten operative time
Takano et al. [128]Maxillary reconstruction1CTMimics (Materialize, Belgium)Titanium3D printing (Stratasys, USA)Improve safety Shorten surgery time
Achieve good function and esthetic outcomes
Abo Sharkh et al. [129]Cutting guides and jaw models in maxillofacial reconstruction19CT3DSlicer (NIH, USA)
Meshmixer (Autodesk, USA)
ResinSLA (Formlabs, USA)
FDM (QiDi, China)
The average time for VSP and fabrication of cutting guides was 158 minutes
The average cost was $18.01 Canadian dollars
Shaheen et al. [132]Occlusal splints in orthognathic surgery20CT (Siemens, Germany)
Optical scanner (SmartOptics, Germany)
CBCT (Planmeca, Finland)
ProPlan (Materialise, Belgium)
3-matic (Materialise, Belgium)
Biocompatible material (MED610)SLA (Objet Connex 350, Stratasys, USA)The mean absolute distance error was 0.4 mm
Dumrongwongsiri et al. [133]Spacers in orthognathic surgery12CBCT3-matic (Materialise, Belgium)Biocompatible material (MED610)3D printing (Stratasys, USA)Mean preoperative visual analogue scale score was improved by 47.82%
Mean facial surface area discrepancy index was corrected by 3.16%
Zhang et al. [134]Mandibular models and surgical templates in orthognathic surgery and mandibular contour osteoplasty10CBCTMimics (Materialise, Belgium)Plastic3D printing (Objet Eden 250, Israel)The right gonial angle was improved from 128.20° to 120.35°
The left gonial angle was improved from 129.91° to 120.74°
Shaheen et al. [135]Splints in bimaxillary orthognathic surgery20CT (Siemens, Germany)
CBCT (Planmeca, Finland)
Intraoral scan (3Shape, Denmark)
ProPlan (Materialise, Belgium)
3-matic (Materialise, Belgium)
Biocompatible material3D printing (Objet Connex 350, Stratasys, USA)95% of 3D-printed splints were clinically accepted
Heufelder et al. [136]Surgical guides and implants in bimaxillary orthognathic surgery22CT (Siemens, Germany)
Optical scan
ProPlan (Materialise, Belgium)Not mentionedSLMThe median deviation of the maxilla position was 0.39 mm between the preoperative plan and surgical result
The accuracy of left-right, up-down, and anterior-posterior positioning was 0.3 mm,0.33 mm, and 0.7mm, respectively
Li et al. [137]Cutting guides and fixation plates in bimaxillary orthognathic surgery10CT (GE Healthcare, USA)
Optical scan (SmartOptics AS, Germany)
ProPlan (Materialise, Belgium)
Geomagic Studio (Geomagic, USA)
Ti6Al4V; photosensitive resinEBM (Arcam AB, Sweden)
SLS (3D system, USA)
Achieve good final occlusion
The median surgical time was 160 minutes
Postoperative nerve parenthesis was recovered with 2-3 months

Note: cases: the number of patients enrolled in the research; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; CT: computed tomography; CBCT: cone-beam computed tomography; NIH: National Institutes of Health; VSP: virtual surgical planning; SLS: selective laser sintering; SLM: selective laser melting; SLA: stereolithography; FDM: fused deposition modeling; EBM: electron beam melting.