Problem Statement

There are currently no economic suitable life-like anatomic models for repeated surgical skill practice for the novice surgeon to perform surgical removal of wisdom teeth.

Dental students currently start to learn minor oral surgery directly on selected patients under supervision without having the benefit of practising on a model prior to live patients. It takes a lot of mistakes for real learning to occur at the expense of the patient.

Objective

This project aims to develop models that can be printed repeatedly with all the details of the anatomy (teeth roots, bone trabeculae, nerves) that is impossible to produce via traditional methods like injection moulding.

The realistic training model can recreate the feel of the adjacent structures that would allow a repeatable process to train on different levels of difficulties and perhaps the possibility for a dentist to train on a case before the actual surgery.

Key Benefits/Outcomes

• Different structures & components are printed in different material combinations and post processed to form a realistic model.
• Demonstrated the capability of using 3D printing to produce satisfactory simulators for wisdom tooth extraction at a relatively low cost of materials.
• Training models will be used in the Oral Surgery curriculum before the students start their clinics.
• Case model can be printed for surgery planning and practising before operating on live patient.