The strategy is part of a government push to make Dubai and the UAE a global hub for 3D printing technology by the year 2030. Research is already taking place into the mass production of 3D-printed teeth, hearing aids prosthetics and implants.

STL is the most popular and widespread 3D file format for 3D printing and basic CAD model interchange and is generated directly by the scanning equipment that typically sits within the dentist’s reach. Eliminating the need for the traditional physical teeth impressions, hand-held intra-oral scanners can quickly and comfortably capture a patients’ 3D teeth anatomies without taking messy impressions.

We all know technology has the potential to change our lives in so many different ways. But sometimes, there’s a particular area of tech and innovation that goes above and beyond to revolutionize the world; 3D printing is one of them. While 3D printing is still a niche area, it’s growing rapidly.

The face of an ancient female Egyptian mummy has been reconstructed with the help of 3D printing and forensic science techniques, an important step to better understand who she was. This reconstruction was only made possible due to the work of a multi-disciplinary team led by scientists at Melbourne University, combining medical research, forensic science, computerised tomographic (CT) scanning, 3D printing, Egyptology and art.

One of the biggest markets for 3D printed dental devices is in the area of orthodontics. 3D printers enable orthodontic professionals to create all manner of personalized equipment right from their desktops. The technology presented by additive manufacturing allows specialists to dramatically reduce fabrication times and increase technicians’ output times.

The University of Gdansk, Poland, has ventured into era of 3D Printing and launched "3D Printing in Medicine", a medical course, first of its kind. Led by Paediatricians, and supplied by Zortrax, it aims to provide theoretical as well as practical scenarios to the students to further discover creating and utilizing 3D Printing Models for Medicine.