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Review
. 2023 Feb 24;16(5):1860.
doi: 10.3390/ma16051860.

Recent Advances on 3D-Printed Zirconia-Based Dental Materials: A Review

Ana Catarina Branco  1   2   3 , Rogério Colaço  4 , Célio Gabriel Figueiredo-Pina  2   3   5 , Ana Paula Serro  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Recent Advances on 3D-Printed Zirconia-Based Dental Materials: A Review

Ana Catarina Branco et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Zirconia-based materials are widely used in dentistry due to their biocompatibility and suitable mechanical and tribological behavior. Although commonly processed by subtractive manufacturing (SM), alternative techniques are being explored to reduce material waste, energy consumption and production time. 3D printing has received increasing interest for this purpose. This systematic review intends to gather information on the state of the art of additive manufacturing (AM) of zirconia-based materials for dental applications. As far as the authors know, this is the first time that a comparative analysis of these materials' properties has been performed. It was performed following the PRISMA guidelines and using PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases to select studies that met the defined criteria without restrictions on publication year. Stereolithography (SLA) and digital light processing (DLP) were the techniques most focused on in the literature and the ones that led to most promising outcomes. However, other techniques, such as robocasting (RC) and material jetting (MJ), have also led to good results. In all cases, the main concerns are centered on dimensional accuracy, resolution, and insufficient mechanical strength of the pieces. Despite the struggles inherent to the different 3D printing techniques, the commitment to adapt materials, procedures and workflows to these digital technologies is remarkable. Overall, the research on this topic can be seen as a disruptive technological progress with a wide range of application possibilities.

Keywords: 3D printing; additive manufacturing; ceramic materials; dental applications; dental materials; zirconia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Types of dental restorations (adapted from [2]). (A) Crown and abutment; (B) Bridge and implant; (C) Facet/veneer; (D) Onlay and inlay.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Indirect and direct AM methods. In some cases, equivalent nomenclatures are referred.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scheme of AM indirect methods used for dental applications (adapted from [31,32]). (A) Stereolithography (SLA), (B) Digital light processing (DLP), (C) Robocasting (RC), (D) Material Jetting (MJ), (E) Binder Jetting (BJ).
Figure 4
Figure 4
PRISMA flow chart diagram.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Most studied AM techniques; (B) Dental applications.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Dispersion charts of retrieved data regarding flexural strength, hardness and fracture toughness from the selected studies presented on Table 1, Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4. (A) Flexural strength; (B) Hardness; (C) Fracture toughness.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(A) Different areas of prosthetic crowns relevant for the evaluation of trueness and precision; (B) Internal fit and marginal adaptation (adapted from [25]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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