3D printed aligner materials: In vitro testing of biocompatibility, cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity

TL;DR

This study tests 3D printed aligner materials for biocompatibility and antimicrobial properties, finding they are generally safe but need improvement for clinical use.

Contribution

The study evaluates and compares the biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity of 3D printed aligner resins.

Findings

All tested 3D printed aligner resins showed acceptable biocompatibility with over 70% cell viability.

Resin B demonstrated reduced bacterial adhesion, indicating some antimicrobial potential.

Surface modification is needed to enhance antimicrobial functionality for clinical applications.

Abstract

Three-dimensional printing provides a new perspective to produce the clear orthodontic aligners and the biocompatibility and
antimicrobial property of these materials have not been fully investigated. Therefore, it is of interest to three 3D printed aligner
resins against a thermoformed control using cytotoxicity and antimicrobial assays. The biocompatibility of all materials was acceptable
(>70% cell viability) but Resin C had a minorly higher level of cytotoxicity. The antimicrobial activity was low except in the case of
Resin B which had decreased bacterial adhesion. All in all, 3D printed aligner resins showed reasonable biocompatible properties but
need to be surface modified to endow antimicrobial functionality to be employed clinically.