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.

A group of Researchers in Italy approached 3D Printing to create Intraoral Occlusal Splints, which are used by dentists to treat temporomandibular disorders as they force muscles to relax and provide relief from pain. A 44-year-old man with unknown medical cause for pain in his jaws, was selected and fit with Intraoral Occlusal Splint to stop the pain and reposition the mandible. The team scanned the teeth of the patient and saved it as .stl file, followed by using 3D ProJet MJP 3600 Dental by 3D Systems to 3D print the Intraoral Splint, with VisiJet® M3 Stoneplast acrylic resin, made for dental practices. The patient got relief of the pain within three weeks and has been advised to keep using the splint for another six months.

Surgical Removal of tumours, especially in Oral Cancer patients, is disfiguring and cannot be completely recovered even after reconstruction surgeries. But Titanium implants have shown promises in the field of reconstruction surgeries, and now, Russian researchers are trying to figure out osseous integration occurring with titanium implants in animals, post re-section, and studying both the implanting and then the required removal of prosthesis meant to be temporary. Titanium bionic implants, tetragonal-shaped, were fabricated to mimic human bone and a Russian-made selective laser melting (SLM) printer was used with Titanium VT1-00 powder. The researchers concluded Clear Establishment that the insertion of the implant led to tissue growth over the device, but with no inflammation detected.

A Team of researchers from Boston and India used 3D Printing to enhance the Applicators used in PDT for Oral Cancer Treatment. PDT or Photodynamic Therapy is a light based spatially-targeted cytotoxic therapy that targets cancer cells. They developed an Intraoral Light Delivery System consisting of modular 3D Printed Light Applicators with pre-calibrated dosimetry and mouth props that can be utilized to perform PDT in conscious subjects without the need of extensive infrastructure or manual positioning of an optical fiber. The Applicators were tested on five subjects with T1N0M0 oral lesions where no residual cancer cells were noted after the treatment. The team used Autodesk Fusion 360 to design the light applicators, and they were printed on a Stratasys Objet Pro system out of VeroBlue and VeroBlack filament.