Millions of craniofacial surgeries are performed annually worldwide for craniofacial bones’ replacement and augmentation. This represents a significant economic burden as well as aesthetic expectations. Autografts and allografts are the first choice for treatment of craniofacial defects; however, their limited availability and difficulty to shape have led to investigation for alternative strategies. Biomaterial-based approaches have been used for implantation as they have ample supply but their processing through conventional technologies present several drawbacks; the major one relates to the poor versatility towards the production of patient-specific implants. Additive manufacturing has gained considerable attention during the last decade, as it allows the manufacturing of implants according to patient need. Biomaterial implants can be additively manufactured but have one or more limitations of stress shielding, radiopacity, high strength to weight ratio and limited bone integration. Over the last few decades, composites are investigated to surmount the limitations with traditional implants and also improve their bone integration. This review provides an overview of the most recent polymeric composite-based biomaterials that have been used in combination with 3D printing technology for the development of patient-specific craniofacial implants. Starting with the conventional treatments, biomaterials available for the craniofacial implants, the additive manufacturing rationale are discussed. Also, the main challenges still associated with 3D printing of polymer-based composites are critically reviewed and the future perspective presented.

全世界每年进行数以百万计的颅面外科手术，以进行颅面部骨的置换和增强。这代表了巨大的经济负担以及美学期望。自体移植和同种异体移植是治疗颅面部缺损的首选；然而，它们有限的可用性和难于成形的特性导致人们对替代策略进行了研究。基于生物材料的方法因其供应充足而被用于植入，但是通过常规技术进行处理存在一些缺点。最主要的原因是针对特定患者植入物的通用性差。在过去的十年中，增材制造获得了相当大的关注，因为它可以根据患者的需求来制造植入物。生物材料植入物可以加成制造，但在应力屏蔽，不透射线，高强度重量比和有限的骨整合方面存在一个或多个限制。在过去的几十年中，人们对复合材料进行了研究，以克服传统植入物的局限性并改善其骨整合性。这篇综述概述了最新的基于聚合物复合材料的生物材料，这些材料已与3D打印技术结合使用，用于开发针对患者的颅面植入物。从常规治疗开始，讨论了可用于颅面植入物的生物材料，增材制造原理。此外，对与聚合物基复合材料的3D打印仍存在的主要挑战进行了严格审查，并提出了未来的观点。