Should You Buy a Three-Dimensional Printer? A Study of an Orbital Fracture

The use of three-dimensional (3D) printing has been growing significantly in medicine for the past 10 years, especially in maxillofacial surgery. A lot a different softwares and printers are available on the market, and it can be difficult to choose which one fits best one's needs. In the authors' institution, the authors regularly print orbits to prepare the reconstruction. The authors then compared the 3D printing of an orbital fracture between a professional and nonprofessional software and between a bottom of the range and a more elaborated printer. The results show that there is a wide variation between the quality of the printing, as well as the time used for the preparation. Costs between free or professional software must also be considered. In conclusion, an analysis of needs and what is available on the market must be studied before investing in 3D printing. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Martin Broome, MD, DMD, Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Rue Bugnon 46, 1011 Lausanne - CHUV, Switzerland; E-mail: martin.broome@chuv.ch Received 27 June, 2018 Accepted 17 August, 2018 The authors report no conflicts of interest. © 2018 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.

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