3D Printing is About to Change the World… Seriously!

From printed meat to printed teeth, 3d printing tech is advancing fast.

It's 2027 and you've lost a tooth in a hockey game. Today the replacement process can be extremely expensive and some patients report not being entirely satisfied with the shape, size, color, or fit of an artificial tooth. But five years from now the most probable way such a scenario will play out will be a visit to the dentist for a scan of some kind before a 3D printer creates a perfect fit made of incredibly resilient composite materials, and at a price that’s a fraction of what it costs today. These predictions for the future of dentistry are based on what analysts see happening due to developments in additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing (AM) or additive layer manufacturing (ALM) are simply industry names for 3D printing, the computer process that controls the depositing of material – usually in layers – into three-dimensional objects. AM and ALM tech has grown at warp speed, and prices for the machinery have come down dramatically – and this in combo equals a whole new world.

We've all heard so much about 3D printing over the past decade that some might be numb to exactly how amazing this tech actually is. Sure, one can see the benefit of having a printer that can create a specific part for some specialized machine, but to be frank, 3D printing hasn't trickled down much into the everyday human experience. But that's about to change. The reason for the change is, as noted above, new developments in the technology itself and new developments in learning how to use 3D printing with materials as disparate as food and metal. You might be surprised to hear what some companies are printing in the year 2022. Vegan steak sounds like a silly oxymoron but is now a reality due to 3D printed meat. Of course, it's not meat from an animal, but rather made of 100% plant-based materials that are then extruded by a 3D food printer that uses the above-mentioned layered technology. This tech has now made possible the production of faux meat so ‘meaty’ that reviewers are giving it 9 out of 10 stars. But, as artificial intelligence merges with additive manufacturing, expect that score number to go up to 10 – as the combined technology delivers exponential development.

There's a reason customizing something costs extra. Generally, anything one-of-a-kind has to be created with the skill of a specialized worker using specialized tools. And this takes time. But as the economics of 3D printing scale up, the price of the entire 3D printing industry is simultaneously falling. This means that much faster than you might think, it will become rather commonplace to print out virtually any realistic creation one can imagine. Even ‘trivial’ stuff. Perhaps it’ll be something as simple as a toothbrush case with small holes for ventilation that you decide to print before taking a trip, or perhaps a hinge on one of your doors is acting up. Instead of calling a repair person, you could just print a new hinge, and perhaps even some screws as well. Metal is increasingly being printed and combined with other materials in interesting ways. And when we say ‘other materials’ it's a bit of an understatement as it's virtually any material. 3D printing has long evolved beyond its origins of extruding plastic and can now print rubber, ceramic resin, wood, synthetic fabrics, metals, and more. We are fast approaching the day when almost anyone can print almost any object from a flower pot to a violin.

And looking a bit farther down the road, the medical industry is excited about the day it becomes possible to 3D print human organs, an idea that right now is a little futuristic but is definitely going to happen – if you talk to bioengineer enthusiasts. For example, the University of Utah bioengineer Robby Bowles told The Scientist that several companies are 3D printing ears. These are helping children born with a defect that leaves their ears underdeveloped. Bowles says ear transplants are a kind of “first proof of concept of 3D printing for medicine.” Scientists are also printing ‘mini organoids’ and ‘microfluidics models of tissues.’ These fancy are more easily understood when described as ‘organs on chips.’ Medical researchers are using these organs on chips to discover and test ideas. One team, for example, wanted to test the cardiac toxicity of doxorubicin, a rather famous cancer drug. So, they printed cardiac cells on a chip, and then connected it to a bioreactor. The researchers were then able to prove that the beating rate of cells on the chip decreased significantly… giving them valuable info on how the drug interacts with heart cells. This kind of info previously would have taken many years of studies and perhaps animal testing, but those days look set to soon be over.

We are by no means even close to the golden era of 3D printing. But we are moving past the technology’s infancy and into, perhaps, early adolescence. What’s coming just a few years in the future is going to revolutionize… well – everything; from food to medicine.