A digital, no-prep approach to replacing missing primary front teeth with 3D printing.
Introducing PrintiSmile™
I’m honored and deeply blessed to spend my days caring for children.
Every so often, a colleague who treats adults asks me, “How do you do it?”
My answer is always the same.
How could I not?
Children are magical. They are curious, resilient, surprising, and wonderfully authentic. Every day they remind me to slow down, laugh, wonder, and see the world through fresh eyes. Truthfully, I’m guilty of enjoying their company more than adults most of the time.
Because I care for children, I care to see the world through their eyes. When a child loses a front tooth after trauma or infection, I don’t just see a missing tooth. I see a little person who deserves to smile confidently, laugh freely, and continue growing without unnecessary treatment.
I also feel deeply for the parents who entrust me with their most precious gift. As a mother myself, I honor the emotions that parents hold. If my own toddler lost a front tooth and was about to start preschool without it, I know my heart would ache too.
Those moments remind me that we’re not simply replacing teeth. We’re caring for children, supporting families, and helping preserve the confidence that comes with a joyful smile.
It was this perspective that inspired PrintiSmile™, a gentle, digitally designed approach to replacing missing primary front teeth that have either been traumatized and lost or are infected and cannot be saved.
What is PrintiSmile™:
Unlike the traditional fixed pediatric anterior partial, which relies on metal bands cemented to the primary molars and a stainless steel wire framework to support an anterior pontic, PrintiSmile™ is a metal-free, resin-based, 3D-printed prosthesis supported by a proprietary digital workflow created specifically for young children. With its minimal, esthetic design, PrintiSmile embraces the principles of minimally invasive pediatric dentistry while respecting a child’s growth and development. It is adhesively bonded to the adjacent primary incisors, eliminating the need for posterior metal bands or wire frameworks while remaining clear of the midpalatal growth center. By combining digital technology with personalized care, each prosthesis is fully customized to the individual child, offering a gentle, modern approach to replacing missing primary front teeth.
Although the prosthesis shares conceptual similarities with adhesive anterior bridges used in adults, its design, digital workflow, and clinical application are fundamentally pediatric-driven, taking into account primary tooth morphology, child behavior, growth and development, and minimally invasive treatment principles.
Who Can Benefit from PrintiSmile™?
PrintiSmile™ is designed for very young children who have lost one or more primary front teeth due to trauma, infection, or other causes. A child may be a candidate once the adjacent primary incisors have erupted, regardless of whether the primary molars have fully erupted.
This is typically a child who would otherwise spend several years without a front tooth before the permanent successor is expected to erupt.
I often tell parents that PrintiSmile was created for children younger than kindergarten age. By the time many children enter kindergarten, losing a front tooth has become a celebrated milestone among their peers. They proudly compare their “missing tooth smiles” and eagerly await visits from the Tooth Fairy.
Toddlers and preschoolers experience tooth loss differently. They are often too young to understand why their smile has changed, and parents may worry about the effect on their child’s confidence during some of their earliest social experiences.
The purpose of PrintiSmile™ is not simply to replace a missing tooth—it is to preserve smile confidence during those formative years. Once a child is emotionally comfortable with a missing front tooth and views it as a normal part of growing up, a prosthesis may no longer be necessary.
PrintiSmile can be used to replace one or two missing primary incisors. When both central incisors are missing, two independent prostheses are fabricated rather than a single appliance spanning the midline. This design philosophy preserves the natural separation across the midpalatal growth center while providing an esthetic and minimally invasive tooth replacement.
The PrintiSmile™ Workflow
To me, this is where the magic happens—watching a digital design come to life.
First Clinical Scenario: A Child Presents with a Missing Front Tooth
A child comes in with a primary front tooth that has already been lost due to trauma or extracted because of infection.
Step 1: A Quick Digital Scan
The appointment begins with a digital intraoral scan, which I perform personally with the child in a comfortable knee-to-knee position. It’s simply a quick pass of a small camera to capture the information I need to design the PrintiSmile™ prosthesis.
I also record the child’s bite but intentionally do not scan the lower arch. There is no need to ask a young child to cooperate any longer than necessary. My goal is to gather only the information I truly need while making the experience as effortless as possible.
Step 2: A Customized Digital Design
Once the scan is complete, the family is free to go have fun…
…while I have my own kind of fun.
Using CAD software, I digitally design a custom PrintiSmile™ prosthesis specifically for that child.
Step 3: Family Smile Preview
One of my favorite moments is inviting the family back to review the digital design before it is printed. Together, we look at their child’s future smile on the screen, discussing the shape, size, and overall appearance of the prosthesis. If there is anything they would like adjusted, this is the perfect opportunity to make those changes.
Once the family approves the design, it is ready for fabrication.
Step 4: Bringing the Design to Life
The PrintiSmile™ prosthesis is fabricated in our Sunshine Smiles Studio, our in-house digital design and 3D printing studio, where advanced technology, artistry, and attention to detail come together to transform a digital design into a custom prosthesis made exclusively for your child.
Once printed, the prosthesis undergoes careful post-processing, including washing, post-curing, finishing, polishing, and glazing to create a smooth, lifelike surface that is both beautiful and comfortable. Every PrintiSmile™ prosthesis is individually designed, fabricated, and hand-finished specifically for one child.
Step 5: A New Smile
By the time the family returns a few hours later, a customized PrintiSmile™ prosthesis is ready for delivery.
Delivery is once again performed in the comfortable knee-to-knee position.
We gently clean the teeth, isolate the area with gauze, and adhesively bond the PrintiSmile™ prosthesis to the adjacent primary incisors using composite resin.
Second Clinical Scenario: When an Extraction Is Needed
Our first priority is always to save a child’s natural tooth whenever possible. However, when a primary tooth cannot be saved because of trauma or infection, we plan the extraction and delivery of the PrintiSmile™ prosthesis during the same visit whenever feasible.
Our goal is for the child to never experience the emotional impact of losing a front tooth.
Before the appointment, I digitally remove the tooth from the scan data and complete the prosthesis design, allowing everything to be ready before the child arrives for treatment.
Once the family approves the digital design, the prosthesis is fabricated in our Sunshine Smiles Studio and prepared for delivery.
During the operative visit, whether performed with local anesthesia, nitrous oxide, oral sedation, IV sedation, or general anesthesia, depending on the child’s individual needs, the tooth is gently removed, and the PrintiSmile™ prosthesis is immediately bonded into place.
The child never experiences a missing front tooth. Neither do their parents.
Caring for Your Child’s PrintiSmile™
To help keep your child’s PrintiSmile™ looking and functioning at its best, we recommend the following:
- Be gentle with the appliance.
PrintiSmile™ is fabricated from a durable, biocompatible 3D-printed resin. While strong enough for everyday function, it is different from natural tooth structure. Please discourage your child from biting directly into very hard foods, chewing on toys, or biting on sippy cups or other hard objects. - Let us know if you notice any changes.
If the PrintiSmile™ becomes loose, chipped, or damaged, please contact our office. Because the prosthesis is bonded as an additive restoration without altering your child’s natural teeth, minor chips or damage to the appliance should not harm the underlying teeth. - Brush as usual.
PrintiSmile™ should be brushed along with your child’s natural teeth using a soft toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste. Good oral hygiene will help keep both the prosthesis and the surrounding teeth healthy. - Designed with growth in mind.
One of the unique advantages of PrintiSmile™ is that it respects your child’s natural growth and development. As the permanent teeth begin to erupt, the prosthesis can be easily trimmed or removed to allow the adult teeth to emerge naturally. - Share your experience.
If PrintiSmile™ has made a difference for your child and family, we would love for you to share your experience with others. Your story may help another family discover a gentle option they never knew existed.
Long-Term Outcomes
As with any new innovation in dentistry, we are carefully following our PrintiSmile™ cases over time to better understand long-term clinical performance, durability, retention, and overall patient outcomes.
Innovation is not a destination, it is a journey. Every child we treat teaches us something new. Each PrintiSmile™ case contributes to the ongoing refinement of the design, digital workflow, and clinical technique, helping us continue to improve care for future children and families.
At the same time, it is important to recognize that all treatment options for replacing missing primary front teeth require ongoing observation. Traditional fixed anterior partials have long been monitored for debonding, appliance movement, fracture, and the need for repair or replacement as children grow and develop. PrintiSmile™ is no different in that respect.
Routine follow-up appointments allow us to evaluate the prosthesis, monitor oral health, and make any necessary adjustments while ensuring that natural growth and tooth eruption continue as expected.
As a pediatric dentist, educator, and lifelong student, I believe every innovation carries with it the responsibility to observe carefully, document honestly, and continue learning. My hope is that PrintiSmile™ will not only restore little smiles today, but also contribute to the growing body of knowledge in digital pediatric dentistry for years to come.
Schedule your child’s first dental visit today! Contact us here.
