Additive Technology: Update on Current Materials and Applications in Dentistry.
Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is becoming an alternative to subtractive manufacturing or milling in the area of computer-aided manufacturing. Research on material for use in additive manufacturing is ongoing, and a wide variety of materials are being used or developed for use in dentistry. Some materials, however, such as cobalt chromium, still lack sufficient research to allow definite conclusions about the suitability of their use in clinical dental practice. Despite this, due to the wide variety of machines that use additive manufacturing, there is much more flexibility in the build material and geometry when building structures compared with subtractive manufacturing. Overall additive manufacturing produces little material waste and is energy efficient when compared to subtractive manufacturing, due to passivity and the additive layering nature of the build process. Such features make the technique suitable to be used with fabricating structures out of hard to handle materials such as cobalt chromium. The main limitations of this technology include the appearance of steps due to layering of material and difficulty in fabricating certain material generally used in dentistry for use in 3D printing such as ceramics. The current pace of technological development, however, promises exciting possibilities.
Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Abdullah
A
Barazanchi
Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Kai Chun
KC
Li
Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Basil
B
Al-Amleh
Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Karl
K
Lyons
Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
J Neil
JN
Waddell
D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D006801:Humans; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional
D003764:Dental Materials
3D printing; Additive; CoCr; cobalt chromium; dentistry; digital workflow; direct metal laser sintering; milling; prosthodontics; subtractive