Clinical evaluation of closed tray impression and intraoral scanning techniques in single posterior tissue-level implant-supported crowns: A self-controlled case study

Different techniques have been used to record the locations of dental implants, yet research examining the clinical outcomes of posterior implant-supported prostheses generated by different techniques, particularly concerning their fit, is lacking. The purpose of this self-controlled study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of closed tray impression making and intraoral scanning for single posterior implant-supported restorations. Eighty-two participants with a single missing posterior tooth were included. The restorations were delivered a minimum of 3 months after tissue-level implant placement. Each participant was provided with 2 screw-retained monolithic zirconia crowns, produced using 3-dimensional (3D) gel deposition from both closed tray impression making (control group) and intraoral scanning using an iTero scanner (experimental group). The recording operating time, the patient comfort assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS), and the fit of the crowns were recorded during clinical evaluation. The paired t test and Mann-Whitney U test were conducted to statistically analyze the differences between the 2 techniques (α=.05). Seventy-six participants completed the study with a dropout rate of 7.3%. The mean ±standard deviation recording operating time of the control and experimental groups was 683 ±164 and 777 ±407 s, respectively (P