‘4 D Printing’ in Dentistry, A Paradigm Shift! - A Narrative Review

4D printing promises evolutionary changes in the field of dentistry in the near future. The medical field has achieved extraordinary results with 4D printed devices. In 2015, a medical team in Michigan was able to save 3 babies with customized patient-specific respiratory implants [1] The extension was extended to produce new stimuli-responsive, adaptive cardiovascular stents and targeted drug delivery systems. 4D Bioprinting for Grafts, Scaffolds, Organs and Implants[2]In vitro studies of cardiovascular implants have shown promise[3] A successful smart material has demonstrated its potential for use as a vascular graft. University of Missouri Research Group[4]. It is well known in the field of dentistry that the use of 4D printing is not far away, as each dental specialty has its own potential and endless applications. The use of nanomaterials in 4D printing can develop dental materials with improved mechanical properties [5] Just like the dynamic oral environment, restorative materials could also become dynamic, allowing them to change shape according to oral stimuli, resulting in a reduction of microleakage and protruding fillings [6 ]Certainly due to the self-folding of smart materials, prostheses can be made using them to contact bone during resorption without recharging. Shape memory metals have taken over the current technology of rotor instruments for root canal instrumentation procedures. The possible use of 4D printing in implants could prove effective because the stress is distributed equally at the implant site. [6] Traditional implants are made of hard materials that cause fatigue damage, while PEEK (polyether ether ketone) / CHAP (calcium hydroxyapatite) polymer implants have a higher modulus of elasticity that distributes stress evenly across the implants. the force is concentrated at the tip. In addition, biomaterials can also be added to implants as support structures to promote cell proliferation. [7,8]