3D Printed Titan Jaw Implant Successfully Implanted

A 64-year-old man from Tiberias, Israel, has become one of the first humans that has received a 3D printed jaw implant.

David Goldstein went to his dentist because he was suffering from pain in his left lower jaw. After a series of different tests, his doctor told him that he has a tumour the size of a half inch. According to a recently published statistic only 1-1.5% of all tumors are located in the jaw. Usually these tumours are treated with a combination of radiation and chemotherapy and after this therapy the tumours are sometimes removed.

However, specially with this kind of cancer and the therapies used, the jaw is often irreparable damaged. This was also the case with David Goldstein, so his doctors decided to ask A.B. Dental for help. A.B. Dental is a company specialised in creating dental implants and their team has created other custom made implants before. Using 3D medical imaging technologies, a full image of the patient’s healthy jaw was created. Then, the implant was printed with an SLS 3D printer, the material used had medical standard – it was titan.

The printed lower jaw fits perfectly and the cosmetic of the face was like before the operation. Only a few hours after the OP the patient could eat normally. Previously similar 3D printed jaw implants were used in Australia, India, South Africa and China. It seems that this technique has lots of benefits for the patients and could also be used in the future.