In-house 3D printing in a New Zealand oral and maxillofacial surgery centre: why, when and how?

INTRODUCTION Recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) printing have greatly improved medical access to its services, reducing cost barriers and the surgical timeframe. In 2020, the Waikato Hospital oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) department acquired a 3D printer. The aim of this study was to investigate its utility and value to the department. METHODS A retrospective four-year analysis (2020–2023) was conducted of in-house 3D printing utilisation in the OMFS department at Waikato Hospital. Information was retrieved from a local database to determine which craniomaxillofacial regions were most frequently printed, the number of biomodels and detailed analyses of their clinical uses. RESULTS Over the 4-year study period, 474 biomodels were printed for 321 different patients. Trauma accounted for 75% of our indications; the remaining 25% were mostly a combination of orthognathic surgery and pathology. The most common area was the orbit/zygomaticomaxillary complex region (60%), followed by the maxilla/midface (16%) and mandible (15%). The vast majority of the biomodels were for preoperative plate bending (78%) and a fifth (19%) were for surgical planning. CONCLUSIONS In our daily practice, biomodels are useful for patient communication, teaching and training purposes. The ability to pre-bend the plates increases precision, decreases surgical time and provides a predictable postoperative outcome. This study demonstrates the versatility of an in-house 3D printing service and the wide variety of cases for which it can be used. While it does not fully bridge the need to outsource certain services, it reduces this significantly. The in-house service has saved the Waikato Hospital OMFS department approximately NZD$600,000 over the first four years.