• Jian Sun and Fu-qiang Zhang.
• Department of Prothodontics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200011, China.
• Zhonghua Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2010 Dec 1; 45 (12): 773-4.

ObjectiveTo investigate the feasibility of applying three-dimensional printing in the fabrication of facial prostheses cavity.MethodsThe computer aided design (CAD) model of negative mold of a nasal prosthesis was generated with Magics RP software according to an existed CAD model of the positive pattern of nasal prosthesis (STL file). The negative mold and positive pattern of the nasal prosthesis were fabricated by three dimensional printing. The actual nasal prosthesis was produced by pouring silicon into the negative mold. The actual nasal prosthesis and rapid prototyping (RP) fabricated positive pattern were both scanned with a three-dimensional scanning system. Quantitative measurements of registration errors were calculated to evaluate the surface matching degree between the two models.ResultsThe max positive error between the models of the actual silicon nasal prosthesis and the RP-fabricated positive pattern was 0.98 mm. It was located at the apex nasi area, and the max negative error was -0.64 mm.ConclusionsFacial prostheses cavity direct three dimensional printing can be one of the methods for automated fabrication of the facial prostheses.

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