3D-printed nails for aesthetic silicone prostheses.

This article has demonstrated that 3D printing is able to produce nails of comparable quality with those produced by traditional methods in size, shape, curvature, and thickness. More consistent thickness, better size, and shape-matching using 3D files also minimize rejects and grinding time when finishing a prosthesis, leading to significant time savings. However, 3D-printed nails fall short in color match, surface texture, and life-likeness. Traditionally produced nails that are made using a more translucent grade of acrylic than that used in the 3D-printed nails are better able to reproduce the life-like coloration of the translucent human nail. The limitations encountered with 3D printing as applied to prosthetic nails production relate to camera settings, digital image color capture and display, differences in color system used in the printer and monitor, ambient lighting, and suitability of acrylic grade used with the proprietary 3D printing system for material translucency or opacity.