CRANIOFACIAL AND DENTAL TISSUE - 3D Bioprinting and Nanotechnology in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine - page 193

FIGURE 9.4
This comparison of image-based crown design (pre) and rendered crown (post) shows high accuracy of these milled crowns.
(Schaefer et al., 2013).
9.3.3 BONE
In cases of craniofacial bone shortage, there are no tissue engineered therapies. Alloplastic materials
have been explored. Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is the most common material used followed
by grade 5 surgical titanium (Ti-6Al-4V). These materials have been used to make custom cranio-
plasties (skull plates) for more than a decade ( Dean et al., 2003a ). Cranial plates are now commonly
3D printed directly from CAD files in PEEK ( Lethaus et al., 2012 ) with a newer material, PEKK
( Baum, 2013 ), having more appropriate material properties for a bone substitute implant. If alloplastic
materials are used, a key consideration is how well they transfer strain to and from the surrounding skull