Apr 19, 2019 
Andrea Son Dental surgeon at the Paulista University; Specialist in Dental Prosthesis by FFO – FundectoMestranda at UNG in the area of digital flow and guided surgery; Beginning of the work with digital flows and CAD / CAM in 2014 – DIO Corporation in Brazil with headquarters in South Korea, in addition to working with companies such as Roland, 3Shape, among others. Development on several fronts related to the digital flow in software development projects, consultancies for the acquisition and implementation of new technologies, improvements and investigation of new materials in 3D printing, training, courses, researches. She was a speaker at our Brazil event.
Jenny: When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?
Andrea: My first encounter was working with guided surgery for dental implants (2014), it was a very nice experience because it improved professional/patient experience and quality of care! Also working with scanners and software’s associated with 3D printers gave me complete digital control and predictability of many surgeries and treatments.
Jenny: What inspired you to start your journey in 3D printing?
Andrea: I always believed in technology. 3D printing with different types of printers opened doors to real experiments and prototypes instead doing this only in software and/or using heavy and expensive machines like milling machines. Since I was little, I always saw my dad reading and working with different tech solutions and it always inspired me, so we knew one day it would be possible to print our food the way we saw on Jetsons cartoon episode.
Jenny: Who inspired you the most along this journey in 3D printing?
Andrea: My dad, who pushed me to always search better ways to improve our patient’s treatment and to explore all limits from technology to make our life more creative and interesting.
Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?
Andrea: A chance to make a better world in terms of discoveries, knowledge to anyone/anywhere and solutions to all people and communities with affordable price and different possibilities.
Jenny: What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions?
Andrea: Price and access to high-quality information from industry to everyone. To dental health area we need to do more research and studies about 3D printers, 3D printing process, and different materials to offer more reliability to all doctors and technicians trying to work with or thinking about investing in these machines. Nowadays, compared to other equipment and materials used by dental professionals, we have very few information about 3D Printing. Gratefully, with the help of many people. I work with many universities and different companies to study more about all solutions and possibilities to try to develop the best way to work with digital workflow using 3D printers.
Jenny: What do you think is (are) the biggest challenge(s) in 3D Printing? What do you think the potential solution(s) is (are)?
Andrea: I think the biggest challenge is still access and materials, especially in Brazil, we need to find ways to get an incentive from the government to put 3D printers inside every school and university, so more people know about the technology and try different things. Also, we need more studies about different materials to give reliable solutions to our patients and again, it will come from education.
Jenny: If you are granted three wishes by a higher being, what would they be?
Andrea:
- Trying every single printer existed nowadays
- Helping with the development of 3D Printing technology
- Working closely with one or different companies/universities and still be alive when 3D printing will be part of everyone’s life.
Jenny: What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advices you heard should they ignore?
Andrea: Technology came to simplify our lives and help us to improve our living and time. And any people from any field can creatively develop great solutions seeing technologies like 3D printing as ally. Everyone should spend a little time to understand how technology could help us. – World’s changing. So, I would not spend my life focusing only in one thing. I dedicate all my life and who I am, and who I’m becoming to every person I meet, every place I visited and every moment I lived. From reading a nice book to researching 3D printing materials, from using a new software to discovering a new hobby. I think diversity helps creativity and understanding different situations better.
Jenny: If you could have a giant billboard to promote a message to millions and even billions of people in our community (i.e. healthcare 3D printing and bio-fabrication), what message would that be?
Andrea: How many times we desired to make real, all kinds of prototypes imagined just inside our thoughts. With 3D printing and bio-fabrication we can make it.
Jenny: What were/was the best investment you made in 3D printing/bio-printing?
Andrea: My trip to Formlabs and IDS 2019 (biggest international congress from dentistry area) – in my first trip (Formlabs) I almost cried during the event/trip, seeing too many different people working together to improve.
Jenny: What were/was the worst investment you made in 3D printing?
Andrea: All investments made with 3D printing were well spent.
Jenny: What was/is the biggest risk you took in your career?
Andrea: Choosing to work closely to 3D printing companies as an industry person to learn more and focus on the technology, instead of staying inside of a dental clinic with my parents and continuing to improving our team and structure there.
Jenny: What do you enjoy in your spare time? What are you passionate about outside of your work/3d printing?
Andrea: I usually drink coffee, read a lot, stay with my family and research more about different technologies – I’m passionate about discovering new hobbies and new people and their stories.
JennY: What is your favorite quote? Why?
Andrea: “Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life.” (Rumi) – When I decided to let everyone teach me and help me with all kind of opportunity and information. I grew up faster than I imagined. When we help someone and let them help us… great things happen. And when we feel grateful about it and share this feeling, it perpetuates and spread to other people.
Jenny: What does the word “3DHEALS” mean to you? =)
Andrea: A chance to connect with more people working with 3D printing to.
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