3D Printing and Digital Design for Maxillofacial Prosthetics

This chapter provides an historical context of the evolution of 3D printing in maxillofacial prosthetics, as well as current general practices and approaches to digital workflows, and it establishes a basis upon which the dedicated practitioner can understand the essential components of defining a digital workflow in clinical practice. The goal is to prepare the practitioner to recognize the clinical implications of technology selection such that best practices can be defined to ensure optimal patient-centered outcomes in maxillofacial prosthetic care. As this chapter addresses a broad topic area, the focus will be on the use of 3D printing applications in the design and fabrication of facial and maxillary prostheses predominantly. There is extensive literature on the topic of “digital dentistry” which is limited in discussion here, though the same general principles and techniques apply. Similarly, craniofacial applications of 3D printing and virtual surgical planning have also been extensively described and were covered in part in the first edition of this book, so will be limited in comment here.