What Materials Are Used In 3D Printing of Facial Implants?

Q: Dr. Eppley, may I ask what materials are used in 3D printing? Is it primarily silicone?

A:3D printing can use virtually any material so that should not be the basis for choosing an implant material.  You choose an implant material based upon the most overlooked property by patients and surgeons alike… and that its ease of secondary reversibility/modification. When you look at the statistics of all types of facial implants the need for secondary revision and/or replacements approximates 40%. That shocking statistic, which is not shocking to those of us who do this work every day and most of these revisions or modifications or for purely aesthetic purposes, is a rank reality have any type of aesthetic facial implant surgery. Besides being able to achieve the desired aesthetic result you now can appreciate why the ease of placement, removal and/or replacement becomes the single most important implant material property.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon