Functionalized bio-artifact fabricated via selective slurry extrusion. Part 2: Fabrication of ceramic dental crown.

Functionalized ceramic dental crown was successfully fabricated through selective slurry extrusion (SSE) based technique of solid freeform fabrication (also known as rapid prototyping). After sintering, the decomposed tourmaline powders were embedded in ZrO2 matrix. The far infrared emission properties of the ceramic dental crown were improved due to the increase of the numbers of infrared active bonds from tourmaline. This new dental restoration process presents potential to provide dental patients with functionalized artificial teeth, which benefits the body health by the way of emitting far infrared rays in ambient temperatures.