95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
MINI REVIEW article
Front. Dent. Med.
Sec. Dental Materials
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fdmed.2025.1558382
EXPLORING THE 4D PRINTING LINKED BIO-SMART MATERIALS IN DENTISTRY: A CONCISE OVERVIEW
Provisionally accepted
Maajida Aafreen 1
Priyanka K Cholan 1*
PAAVAI ILANGO 2
Harinath Parthasarathy 1
Anupama Tadepalli 1
LAKSHMI RAMACHANDRAN 1- 1 SRM Dental College, Chennai, India
- 2 Priyadarshini Dental College And Hospital, Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, India
4D printing advances traditional 3D printing by incorporating the dimension of time, enabling stimuliresponsive shape or behavior changes. Bio-smart materials, crucial to this technology, enable programmable transformations with significant potential in biomechanics and dentistry. This review explores the use of smart materials and stimuli in 4D printing, emphasizing dental applications.A comprehensive search across EMBASE, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and clinical trial registries identified 154 articles on 4D printing technologies, biomaterials, and stimuli relevant to dental applications. Of these, 84 were pertinent to the review's objective, with 25 specifically focused on 4D printing and various smart materials. The review highlights biomaterials engineered for programmable responses, such as shape memory polymers, shape memory elastomers, responsive inks, and hydrogels. These materials enable the creation of structures that can adapt, self-assemble, or respond to stimuli like temperature, moisture, or pH levels. In dentistry, these capabilities show potential for applications in orthodontics, implants, and tissue engineering.The integration of 4D printing and bio-smart materials has the potential to transform dentistry by creating adaptive, timeresponsive structures. This technology enables personalized, precise, and minimally invasive treatments, addressing complex biomechanical challenges in dental care.
Keywords: 4Dprinting, Bio-smart materials, smart materials, Hydrogels, Smart Polymers, responsive
Received: 18 Jan 2025; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Aafreen, Cholan, ILANGO, Parthasarathy, Tadepalli and RAMACHANDRAN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Priyanka K Cholan, SRM Dental College, Chennai, India
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.