Update of patient-specific maxillofacial implant

Purpose of review Patient-specific implant (PSI) is a personalized approach to reconstructive and esthetic surgery. This is particularly useful in maxillofacial surgery in which restoring the complex three-dimensional (3D) contour can be quite challenging. In certain situations, the best results can only be achieved with implants custommade to fit a particular need. Significant progress has been made over the past decade in the design and manufacture of maxillofacial PSIs. Recent findings Computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technology is rapidly advancing and has provided new options for fabrication of PSIs with better precision. Maxillofacial PSIs can now be designed using preoperative imaging data as input into CAD software. The designed implant is then fabricated using a CAM technique such as 3D printing. This approach increases precision and decreases or completely eliminates the need for intraoperative modification of implants. The use of CAD/CAMproduced PSIs for maxillofacial reconstruction and augmentation can significantly improve contour outcomes and decrease operating time. Summary CAD/CAM technology allows timely and precise fabrication of maxillofacial PSIs. This approach is gaining increasing popularity in maxillofacial reconstructive surgery. Continued advances in CAD technology and 3D printing are bound to improve the cost-effectiveness and decrease the production time of maxillofacial PSIs.