3D printing of maxillofacial prosthesis materials: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Millions of people worldwide suffer from birth defects, trauma, or illness that affect their mental well-being, social interactions, professional life, finance, and life quality. Prosthesis revamps the standard of life for most affected people by restoring aesthetics and functions to anatomical parts where plastic surgery is unsuitable and costly. To overcome the issues of conventional fabrication such as lack of attachment, function, robustness, aesthetics, and cost, 3D printing could be a suitable technology to manufacture prosthesis products. However, 3D printing of prosthesis materials is currently in the very early phase of evolution and is facing various challenges, like limited 3D printing of compatible prosthesis materials, issues with printability, defects, and low mechanical strength in the printed parts. On the other hand, the interface and software for manufacturing maxillofacial prosthesis products are costly. This review article aims to address the challenges and opportunities associated with the 3D printing of maxillofacial prosthesis material using computer-aided design. The current advancements in the 3D printing of prosthesis materials is summarized and future prospectives of additive manufacturing of prosthesis materials are exhaustively discussed in order to encourage potential research in this area. Furthermore, the successful implementation of additive manufacturing techniques in prosthesis will enhance its potential in large-scale biomedical applications and scalable customization.