How social media making an impact on the field of 3D printing in dentistry – survey study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND 3D printing is a rapidly developing technology in the healthcare industry and in dentistry as well. Regarding its application it shows clear evidence that this area of digital dentistry is in everyday usage among all of the fields including prosthodontics, orthodontics, maxillofacial surgery and oral implantology. In spite of gaining ground, there is a lack of information about how the specialists (dentists, dental technicians) use the additive technology. OBJECTIVE Our research group aims to investigate the impact of social media on the additive manufacturing technology among dental specialists and the everyday usage of 3D printing. METHODS The paper investigates the everyday usage of 3D printing by the specialists via an online survey (Google Form). The questions of the survey try to draw a conclusion about the number of 3D printers used, the accessibility of devices, the annual cost and the designing programs. Since the specialists tend to build online communities on social media, during our research we spread the questionnaire by our platforms on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. RESULTS The 114 feedback were from 20 countries, most of them were from Hungary (23.7%), the United States (18.4%), and the United Kingdom (7.9%). Most of the participants were dentists (62) and dental technicians (29) but also CAD / CAM specialists (23) filled out our survey. The participants had an average of 3.8 years (± 0.7) of experience in the 3D printing field, and own a total of 405 printing devices (3.6 on average/person). CONCLUSIONS The impact of social media on this research field is more and more growing hence we support the specialists to join the virtual communities on the adequate platforms. The article intended to provide a practical overview of feedback and give a direction for those dentist colleagues who are willing to invest in this technology. From our survey we could state that additive technology is widening our applications and our services, what we can provide for our patients.