Title
3D printed aligner materials: In vitro testing of biocompatibility, cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity
Authors
Akshaya Rajagopal1*, Kavitha Sree Budda2, Naif Omar Binmuhana3, Roma Seshagiri4, Mohammad Sohail Shaik4 & Siddarth Bhogi5
Affiliation
1Department of Orthodontist and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Mydentist Clinic, Mumbai, India; 2Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, SIBAR Institute of Dental Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India; 3Department of Preventive Dental Science, Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Care Dental College, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India; 5Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Sri Balaji Dental College & Hospital, Hyderabad, Telangana, India; *Corresponding author
Akshaya Rajagopal - E-mail:
akshayarajgopal2@gmail.com
Kavitha Sree Budda - E-mail: buddakavithasree145@gmail.com
Naif Omar Binmuhana - E-mail: nbinmuhana@ibnsina.edu.sa
Roma Seshagiri - E-mail: romasesh1996@gmail.com
Mohammad Sohail Shaik - E-mail: sohailsm.2009@gmail.com
Siddarth Bhogi - E-mail: sbogi0@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received November 15, 2025; Revised December 15, 2025; Accepted December 15, 2025, Published December 15, 2025
Abstract
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
Keywords
3D printing clear aligners, biocompatibility, cytotoxicity, antimicrobial activity, orthodontic materials, digital dentistry
Citation
Rajagopal et al. Bioinformation 21(12): 4890-4895 (2025)
Edited by
Hiroj Bagde
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
