(PO-157) Multi-material 3D-printed tooth – The future of dental education

Author: Suvendra Vijayan, BDS, MPH, M.S – University Of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
Author: Matthew Palmer
Author: Brian Schafer
Author: Anitha Potluri, BDS, DMD, MDsc – Chair, University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
Submitter: Suvendra Vijayan, BDS, MPH, M.S – University Of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine

Objective:
Dental anatomy and restorative dentistry are core to the knowledge required of any dental student. This has been taught using extracted human teeth and plastic teeth for most of the time. There are inherent issues associated with using extracted human teeth, from limited quantity to ensuring sterilization of teeth. The use of plastic teeth for restorative learning also has its own set of issues, from accuracy of different layers to non-customizability of these teeth. The current project explores the possibility of segmenting a DICOM file of a natural tooth using open-source segmenting software, into multiple STL files and 3D printing the model using a polyjet 3D printer with multi materials.

Methods
Extracted premolar teeth were scanned using a microCT machine. The DICOM files were imported into an open-source software, 3D Slicer, for segmentation. The pulp, dentin and enamel regions where then segmented separately using a variety of editor tools. The models will be 3D printed in a polyjet 3D-printer using multiple materials mimicking actual tooth structures.

Results
The 3D printed model retained the anatomic accuracy of the scanned model to a high degree and color palette of natural tooth.

Conclusion
An affordable, personalized, and hygienic approach to dental education is now possible by creating high-quality, low-cost alternative to natural teeth with the use of 3D printing and high-resolution imaging. Using scans of teeth from cone-beam CT (CBCT) is a realistic approach to create these models. With improvement in 3D printing materials, we can advance these changes to other areas, for practice of tooth preparation for caries treatment or for endodontic purposes in dental education. A combination of factors like increased accuracy and affordability of 3D printers, along with accessibility to virtual files of patient teeth, will contribute to enhancement of student learning using virtualization and 3D modelling.