| Additive manufacturing technologies (AMTs) offer a new approach for cost-effective production
of goods and services and are therefore quite rightly included as part of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, Industry 4.0. Last years great attention is paid to the AMTs as technologies of the future
development in many countries all over the world including the European Union. Depending on the
availability of a good base of installed 3D printers and intellectual potential, the countries are
divided into two groups: 1) leaders in the field of 3D printing technology and 2) countries with large
bases of equipment, but lack of trained and qualified labor force. The aim of the present paper is to
analyze the perspectives and development trends for application of additive technologies in modern
dental medicine in the light of Industry 4.0.
The constant development of AMTs will accelerate their implementation in various fields and in
particular in medicine/dentistry. The 3D printing technologies are first applied in dentistry, due to
the possibility for fabrication of individual dental constructions. Currently, almost all worldrenowned companies for production of dental materials and machines develop additive technologies
and manufacture the corresponding equipment. According to the forecasts, the 3D printing is
expected to be widely used in dental clinics and laboratories in the next 5-10 years.
The additive technologies most often applied in dentistry include stereolithography, fused
deposition modeling, selective electron beam melting, selective laser melting/sintering and ink-jet
printing. The great variety of materials used in these processes allow constructions with different
purposes to be made for all areas of dental medicine - surgery, oral implantology, conservative
dentistry, orthodontics and prosthetic dentistry. |
