Rapid Prototyping in Maxillofacial Rehabilitation: A Review of Literature

Abstract

This review focuses on fast prototyping advancements in the field of maxillofacial prosthodontics, as well as the various methods for fabricating maxillofacial prostheses. As of date, the interface and software used for processing and designing maxillofacial prostheses are costlier, atypical for the specific purpose, and only reachable to highly trained dental specialists or computer-aided design (CAD) engineers. This review is a summary of all rapid prototyping trials conducted in the mentioned context of three-dimensional (3D) printing of maxillofacial prostheses, treatment modalities, and future perspectives relating to rapid prototyping in dentistry. We performed a search of relevant articles on Google Scholar and PubMed, which yielded a total of 21 articles for full-text reviews. After excluding some articles based on the exclusion criteria, a review was conducted. This study gives a comprehensive discussion of current issues and future ideas for integrating digital technology with conventional techniques.