PERSPECTIVES AND DEVELOPMENT TRENDS FOR APPLICATION OF ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN MODERN DENTISTRY IN THE LIGHT OF INDUSTRY 4.0

Abstract

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.