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| industry news interview “ With 4-D printing we will be able to provide much more precise treatments” Interview with Dr Sherif Kandil, experienced practitioner, CEO of K Line Europe GmbH We all heard about 3-D printing, what does 4-D stand for? Yes, that is true that we have been hearing lately only about 3-D printing, nowadays 4-D represents the dimension of time. 4-D refers to additive man- ufacturing or printing of special materials that have certain memory characterisation built in a specific layering system on a 3-D printer, yet was designed or using CAD on a software that dictates the material reshaping and response to stimuli by time. Can you tell us more about your recent activities in concern to 4-D technology? After I patented the idea of 4-D printing in or- thodontics, I moved on to applying this technology in our R&D labs in K Line Europe in Düsseldorf, Germany. 4-D printing technology has been shifting engineers’ opinions and even many in the medical field on the possibili- ties and chances that have been unleashed after the introduction recently of this technology. I have been focusing on applying this science to clear aligners and also on orthodontic wires using advanced 3-D printers and re-engineered Meta-materials. Since I would consider myself as an experi- menter, I am currently applying the 4-D printing concept of therapy on my own teeth to manufac- ture clear aligners, I am strictly recording all details as I will be publishing results in a scientific study after treatment completion. How does 4-D change medicine in general and orthodontics in particular? I believe in the next two years 4-D printing will be changing many approaches we currently use to treat our patients. If you search online for 4-D you will find so many results and can even discover how medicine in particular will have the first and big- gest impact with this technology. Bioengineers, for example, are trying to apply 4-D printing technol- ogy in replacing some tissue parts or even manu- facturing implants and splints that are placed in our body. This could save many people’s lives due to the fact that the 4-D printed objects can change their shape inside the body to conform to what ex- actly needs to be replaced without the need for multiple surgeries. In orthodontics, we will be able to provide pa- tients a much more precise treatment that exactly meets their needs through customising the clear aligners or the orthodontic wire to change its shape when placed in the oral cavity to the re- quested final result. So it is crafting the final result with much more precision and with a smaller amount of clear aligners or wires so that only 1–2 aligners or 1–2 orthodontic wires are needed for the whole treatment. What are the challenges that current clear aligners and fixed braces face in the market? Currently, I believe there are three main chal- lenges we face in orthodontics when it comes to clear aligners or fixed orthodontics. First is the manufacturing process, as there are many steps 40 ortho 1 2017