When tech rhetoric turns into reality

3D printing is having a sweeping impact on our daily lives before we could even realize it. Let me share with you several stories, and you will likely agree with me.

My German friend Josh visited Shanghai last month and told me over dinner that he just had one 3D-printed tooth that liberated him from months of pain. It suddenly occurred to me that technological rhetoric has quietly turned into reality.

I was just amazed to see how this is being achieved. It turns out that when Josh's natural tooth was extracted, the dentist scanned its shape and size, and printed an artificial tooth of exactly the same dimensions using materials like titanium and zirconia.