In order to try and bring that number down, scientists have recently created 3D-printed dentures that release fungus-killing medicine.

Led by Dr. Praveen Arany, a team from the University at Buffalo printed the prototype dentures out of Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), which is currently the standard denture-making material. For the outer layer of the dentures, that PMMA was mixed with biodegradable microspheres filled with the antifungal medication Amphotericin B. These spheres both protected the medicine from the heat of the printing process, and subsequently allowed it to gradually leak out as they degraded.