A case of maxillary prosthesis using 3D printer produced components with ink-jet printing after maxillectomy

Abstract

Although reconstruction surgery has advanced, a dento-maxillary prosthesis is still applied in many cases of maxillary defect after surgery for a malignant maxillary tumor. There are dento-maxillary prostheses with hollow and buccal flange obturators, but these have some disadvantages, such as miscellaneous germ growth due to retained immersion solution and the distortion and resonance of phonation.
Stereolithography is capable of preparing a stereoscopic model with the same morphology as the actual object within a short period by applying CAD/CAM technology to 3-dimensional image data, such as CT data, and it has recently been used in clinical practice. However, model preparation is expensive and time-consuming.
We prepared an inflatable balloon maxillary prosthesis from a 3-dimensional lamination molding model utilizing ink-jet printing, instead of the current stereolithography, applied it to a patient with a maxillary defect, and achieved a favorable outcome.