3D printed aligner materials: In vitro testing of biocompatibility, cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity

Three-dimensional printing provides a new perspective to produce the clear orthodontic aligners and the biocompatibility and antimicrobial property of these materials have not been fully investigated. Therefore, it is of interest to three 3D printed aligner resins against a thermoformed control using cytotoxicity and antimicrobial assays. The biocompatibility of all materials was acceptable (>70% cell viability) but Resin C had a minorly higher level of cytotoxicity. The antimicrobial activity was low except in the case of Resin B which had decreased bacterial adhesion. All in all, 3D printed aligner resins showed reasonable biocompatible properties but need to be surface modified to endow antimicrobial functionality to be employed clinically.