Accuracy of 3-dimensional computer-aided manufactured single-tooth implant definitive casts

The integration of the digital workflow into routine prosthodontic practice for single-tooth implant surgery and fixed prosthesis fabrication has occurred at a remarkable pace in the last 5 years. With the greater demands of esthetics and precision, the definitive implant analog cast must ensure accurate implant positioning as well as an accurate relationship to adjacent teeth. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the accuracy of the 3-dimensional (3D) implant position of definitive casts produced by 3D printing and analog technology. A master patient model was created from a dentate typodont. The maxillary left central incisor was removed, and a Straumann RC implant was positioned for a screw-retained prosthesis. A laboratory scanner with an accuracy of 5 μm was used for all scanning. A scanbody was connected to the master model implant and scanned to create a master patient file, which served as the control master patient for all comparisons. The two 3D printing systems used for this study were the Statasys Objet500 (group OBJ), an industrial Polyjet production system, and the Formlabs Formlab 2 (group FORM), a budget SLA Vat system. In addition, a conventional gypsum cast (group GYP) with an implant analog was made with elastomeric impression material. With a sample size of 10 per group, each gypsum cast and 2 printed group casts were scanned with the D2000 laboratory scanner 5 times per cast. Convince software (3Shape) was used for 3D analysis to calculate accuracy. The following variables were measured: implant analog vertical displacement, horizontal displacement of implant platform and apex, degree of tilting in the vertical axis, and rotational position change around the vertical axis. Means and standard deviations were calculated for trueness. One-way ANOVA and the post hoc t test with Bonferroni correction were used to investigate any significant differences among the experimental groups (α=.05). For vertical displacement of the implant body, group OBJ had the lowest value of –30 ±24 μm. The values obtained for OBJ and FORM were significantly different from that obtained for GYP (P