“The global forecast of 3D printing is estimated to reach USD 6.5 billion by 2025 from its starting value of 1.8 billion in 2020.”
3D printing has become a part of the dentistry profession with technological advancements and changes in the medical field. Just like other human-healthcare fields, this sector has also developed to cope with emerging issues.
There are various factors that have facilitated the incorporation of 3D technology in this sector and the industry will boom by 2025. Some of these factors have been listed below.
1- Dental Health issues and Diseases
Over the past years, the incidence of dental health issues has increased at a much higher pace compared to the past. Dental issues were mainly a problem of the elderly in the past, but now these issues have been reported in teenagers.
Although a few cases could be observed in young people, this number has now significantly increased. In a study by CDC, it was seen that for the year 2019, nearly 64.9% of adults above 18 years of age went through dental surgery or a dental procedure.
The high incidence of dental diseases is related to the diet of individuals, and 3D dental printing techniques provide faster and effective results that have caused the growth of its need and importance.
2- Cosmetic Dental Surgeries
Suppose we put aside the treatment of dental diseases. In that case, cosmetic surgeries hold the second position in this field according to the demand for 3D dental printing.
A large share of the population focuses on dental surgeries to look prettier. Dental hygiene and health play a major role in looking attractive, so the high demand for these cosmetic surgeries does not come as a surprise.
Various facilities such as The Smile Bar Philippines offer, these surgeries to their clients at economical rates with effective results and become the pioneers in using such technologies.
3- Technological Advancements
Various technological advancements such as Laser Dentistry, Invisalign, VELscope have been introduced in this field. The use of 3D technology has become a part of this change.
Clinics and hospitals around the world have adopted 3D printing. This technique provides effective and fast results that have proven to be much more beneficial than contemporary methods, making it one of the biggest reason that the industry will boom by the year 2025.
4- Increase in the Ageing population
The ageing population means the number of elderly in the total population of the world. Between the years 2017 and 2050, this population is expected to increase more than twofold.
The people counted in this observation have the age 60 or above. By looking at this graph, it can be observed that with the increase in the ageing population, the need for dental health care will also increase, which will, in turn, lead to the increased demand for 3D printing techniques in this field.
The above-mentioned factors have contributed to the increased demand for 3D technology and have paved the way for its incorporation in dental health care.
There are various other factors that have influenced the use of 3D printing in dentistry. One of the most important factors is the Corona pandemic which has affected the dental field both negatively and positively. Let’s discuss the impacts of this pandemic and the future prospects of 3D technology in the dental sector.
- Corona Pandemic:
Let’s look at the first-hand impact of the Corona pandemic on the dental industry. We will observe that the dentistry sector has been negatively affected by the pandemic. The clinics, hospitals, and other dental health care centers were closed during the pandemic.
These centers were considered non-essential during the pandemic and closed to prevent any spread of the disease. However, emergency dental surgeries were still being offered to clients. The Smile Bar Philippines was one of the top places that offered these services with a high customer satisfaction ratio.
In the long run, the positive impact of this pandemic is predicted on the health sector as well as the 3D printing use in this field. Currently, various clinics around the globe are being opened again and have started offering their services.
The factors that were previously forcing the use of 3D printing technology are still at work despite the effect of the pandemic. Even during the pandemic, dentists had shifted to CAD/CAM and 3D technology due to their effectiveness.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned factors are predicted to play a role in the increase of 3D technology over the years. There are still some factors that hinder the growth of 3D printing in the dentistry field, such as high investments and the cost of 3D transplants.
The intermingling of modern technology can take some time. Still, in the end, it is inevitable considering the automation of every field.
