Dosch Maximilian, Schwendicke Falk, Tseng Po-Chun, Spies Benedikt C, Keßler Andreas
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Center for Dental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany., Freiburg, Germany.
Eur J Dent Educ. 2025 May 5. doi: 10.1111/eje.13107.
To develop realistic training teeth composed of multi-material colours and gradients and evaluate them in comparison with the standard model and extracted teeth with a group of students.
Three different teeth were virtually designed by use of multiple STL-compartments and additively manufactured with different material gradients like colour, hardness and functional properties in a single printing process using MultiJet technology. The teeth included simulated hard-/softissues and restorative materials like enamel, dentin, pulp, carious dentin, composite, amalgam, and gutta-percha. The selected teeth were tested by a group of 25 clinical students in a volunteer hands-on course. They had experience in caries removal, post insertion and preparation on real patients. Study procedures included the removal of a faulty direct and indirect restoration, of gutta-percha as well as of carious dentin. The properties of the printed teeth for each task were assessed by the students using grades (1 = very good, 2 = good, 3 = satisfactory, 4 = sufficient, 5 = poor). Conventional model teeth and extracted real teeth served as reference.
In comparison to standard model teeth, printed teeth were rated 1.1 ± 0.7, with a grade of 2.4 ± 1.2 for haptic impression and 1.2 ± 0.8 for realistic perception of the exercise. In comparison to extracted teeth, the colour of the enamel(2.1 ± 1.4), the dentin(1.8 ± 1.3) and the carious lesion(1.2 ± 0.8) were evaluated with overall good or very good values. The new features were rated with 1.2 ± 0.7 for the Amalgam filling, 1.0 ± 0.3 for the caries lesion, 1.4 ± 1.5 for the crown, and 2.0 ± 1.0 for the gutta-percha.
The results of the pilot study confirm the potential of multi-material additive manufacturing for educational purposes. Students preferred printed teeth in comparison with conventional acrylic and extracted teeth, considering the simulation of a training scenario close to clinical reality.
