The science of printing and polishing 3D printed dentures.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the effectiveness of various techniques available for printing, finishing and polishing of 3D printed prosthesis.

METHODS

The articles were selected from electronic databases including PubMed and Scopus. Recently, lot of advancements have been observed in the field of 3D printing in dentistry.

RESULTS

Numerous studies were found explaining the factors affecting the surface roughness such as printing speed, direction, layer thickness, post curing, etc., and the significance in achieving a smooth surface finish of a 3D printed prosthesis. The methods employed to achieve this range, similar to conventional and chairside polishing, are to use advanced coating materials such as light cured glazes to nanoparticles.

CONCLUSION

3D printing is being used in day-to-day practice and the prosthesis must be aesthetic looking to satisfy the patients' expectations. There is a lack of data supporting any one polishing method for the prosthesis. There is a need for further research on the existing techniques and newer advancements yielding aesthetic prostheses with an optimal surface finish.