3D printed customized facemask for maxillary protraction in the early treatment of a Class III malocclusion: proof-of-concept clinical case

In order to improve fit and comfort, a maxillary protraction facemask customized to the patient’s anatomy was produced by means of 3D face scanning, digital design and additive manufacturing. An 8-year-old patient in need of early treatment for the Class III malocclusion received a rapid palatal expander and a Petit-type facemask, whose components were digitally designed on a 3D scan of the patient’s face. For face scanning, the iPad Pro 2018 tablet (Apple, Cupertino, CA, USA) with the Bellus3D DentalPro application (Bellus3D, Campbell, CA, USA) was used. Facemask components were modelled with 3D Blender software. The rests were 3D printed in BioMed Clear biocompatible resin (Formlabs, Somerville, MA, USA), and the bar in stainless steel. For greater comfort, the internal surface of the rests was lined with a polymer gel pad (Silipos, Niagara Falls, NY, USA). The manufacturing procedure of the customized facemask is patented. The patient wore the facemask at night for a period of 9 months. The patient’s experience was evaluated with a questionnaire at 1 week, 3, 6, and 10 months of treatment. The customized facemask was well accepted by the patient and obtained the expected treatment outcome. Furthermore, 3D face scanning, 3D modelling and 3D printing allow for the manufacturing of customized facemasks with improved fit and comfort, favoring patient compliance and treatment success. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Children as superheroes: designing playful 3D-printed facemasks for maxillofacial disorders

The paper describes a Human-Centred Design approach to developing customised facemasks for the orthopaedic correction of Class III malocclusions in children. The effectiveness of facemask therapy critically depends on patient’s compliance with the recommended wear time, possibly ranging between 14- 24 hours a day, over a time span of at least 9 months. Commercial facemasks are unaesthetic, uncomfortable and cause irritations due to the direct contact of plastic on the skin (Stocker et al., 2016). The research project SuperPowerMe develops a custom-made facemask to make the impact of the therapeutic intervention more sustainable in a critical stage of the physical and psychological child development. Differently from commercial facemasks, SuperPowerMe is composed of 3D-printable biocompatible materials which make the device comfortable and customisable. SuperPowerMe adopts a gamification approach (Birk et al.,2016): a smartphone application provides games of increasing challenge where a superhero avatar wearing a facemask akin to the one worn by the child gains power fighting against monsters and other characters. An ergonomic customised prototype facemask has been developed and will be soon tested at the Careggi Hospital in Florence, Italy

Design thinking as a mindset shift for innovation in healthcare

Design Thinking is a human-centred approach to problem solving and innovation that exploits design theories and methods to solve ill-defined problems. Recently it has been a popular subject of real-life applications in research and industrial endeavours for its original way to combine creative and analytical thinking, what is desirable from a human viewpoint with what is technologically feasible. This paper focuses on the application of Design Thinking in paediatric orthodontics. Through the analysis of a design case study, the paper picks up the threads of the challenges of devising a facemask for maxillary malocclusion. The case study shows how a Design Thinking mindset can make a holistic and creative approach flourishing, bringing together different competences at any stage of the design process. The methods of design allowed to translate the different languages of the stakeholders into a single narrative where the people’s journeys are clearly depicted, monitored, and supported