Are the resins used in dental 3D printing dangerous for reproductive health?

At Northwestern University, a team of researchers developing the first female reproductive tract on a chip (EVATAR) in order to enable sex-based ex vivo (outside of the organism) research discovered something worrying about their “biocompatible” materials. While using 3D printing resins commonly used in dentistry, they realized that these resins could be potentially harmful to mammalian oocytes (commonly referred to as eggs) in vitro. Notably, they found significant ovo-toxicity in mammals leaching from the materials, suggesting that there needs to be a more rigorous evaluation of the available biocompatible materials today. The results of this study potentially call into question certain uses of dental additive manufacturing. Also it highlights the continued obstacles related to the biocompatibility and current certification of resins.

Estimated at $9.7 billion in 2025 according to Grand View Research, dental 3D printing allows for multiple applications: 3D printed trays, custom-made implants, molds, prostheses, and more. In many cases, stereolithography technology is preferred, a process based on photosensitive resins. Today, they are mainly used to make aligner molds that are then thermoformed. However, the results of the study conducted by Northwestern University suggest that they could leak compounds that could induce severe toxicity into the oocyte. Should we be concerned about the use of these resins in additive manufacturing?

photo credit: EnvisionTec

The researchers explain that they used two biocompatible resins to print 3D micro-physiological platforms to accelerate the manufacturing of a prototype reproductive device. Since reproductive cells are highly sensitive to leachable compounds, they conducted an examination of the toxicity of the resins used using an in vitro mouse oocyte maturation test. The culture made in this 3D-printed piece revealed rapid oocyte degeneration. Francesca Duncan, co-author of the study and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, explains: “Our results are important because they demonstrate that leachates from commonly used materials in 3D printing slated as ‘biocompatible’ but that may have have adverse effects on reproductive health. There is a critical need to better understand the identity and biological impact of compounds that leach from these materials”.