This week saw the publication of an article in the Journal of Orthodontics titled A 3D printed surgical analogue to reduce donor tooth trauma during autotransplantation by Richard R. J. Cousley, Andrew Gibbons & Jeremy Nayler. This case report describes how a 3D printed tooth replica was used to minimise trauma to the tooth's root sheath during tooth transplantation. The surgery was undertaken by Mr Cousley and Group Captain Gibbons at the Peterborough City Hospital. The full article can be read online. The segmentation and printing of the tooth analogue was carried out in Media Studio's 3D PrintIng Studio by 3D Printing Technician, Geoff Oliver.

This shows how the imaginiative use of 3D printing can help in all kinds of surgery and the latest biocompatible 3D printing materials make the use of 3D prints a safe procedure in surgical procedures.

a) CT reconstruction showing the tooth in situ, b) screen image of 3D reconstruction of the tooth c) and d) the 3D-printed tooth analogue.

The paper's full abstract reads:

Surgical trauma and prolonged extra-alveolar exposure of the donor tooth’s root sheath are both complicating factors during tooth autotransplantation surgery. This case report describes a 12-year-old female patient who underwent surgical transplantation of a maxillary second premolar to a central incisor site. A three-dimensional printed analogue of the donor tooth was fabricated from a cone beam (CBCT) scan of the tooth in order to minimise the extra-oral (exposure) time and frequency of trial insertions of the donor tooth into the recipient socket. The laboratory and clinical aspects of this novel technique are described.