Virtual Planning and Rapid 3D Prototyping Surgical Guide for Anterior Crown Lengthening Surgery: A Clinical Case Report

Abstract

Progress with additive 3D printing is revolutionizing biomaterial manufacturing, including clinical dentistry and prosthodontics. Among the several 3D additive printing technologies, stereolithography is very popular as it utilizes light‐activated resin for precise resolution. A simplified digital technique was used to fabricate two designs of a surgical guide for crown lengthening. Two cases are presented that utilized digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) files obtained with computed tomography (CT) imaging and processed using four CAD software (Blue Sky Plan, Exocad, Meshmixer and 3D Slicer). The final models were converted to standard tessellation (STL) files and the guides were 3D printed with an additive stereolithography (SLA) printer. The first case was fabricated with a bone model from cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) data, and the second case was generated with intraoral and wax‐up scans alone. Both methods appear to be equally effective compared to using a conventional method of guide frabication. However, proximal bone reduction was a concern with both designs. Digitally fabricated 3D printed surgical guide for crown lengthening has merit and a practical design is needed for future clinical validation.

The Application of 3D Virtual Technology in the Teaching of Clinical Medicine

“…The two types of information correct each other, making the surgery much safer and more accurate. Although the application of mobile augmented reality technology in the medical field is still in the preliminary exploration stage, the current mobile augmented reality technology also has many shortcomings: such as network latency, data management, system stability, device endurance [8], virtual-real alignment accuracy, security privacy, and social acceptance and other issues need to be further improved. However, the digital, individualized, minimally invasive, and remote characteristics of mobile augmented reality technology are very much in line with the current direction of medical development and show excellent application prospects.…”

Combined Application of Virtual Simulation Technology and 3-Dimensional-Printed Computer-Aided Rapid Prototyping in Autotransplantation of a Mature Third Molar

“…Virtual simulation has received much attention in dental education and pre-clinic assessments, such as in implant placement, endodontic microsurgery, orthognathic surgery planning, and virtual prosthetic planning [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Gambarini et al reported that the dynamic navigation system allowed an undergraduate student to perform planned and guided endodontic surgery by using a virtual patient and computer-aided procedure [ 21 ].…”