How accurate are these models, though? That’s the question that a group of University of Oklahoma researchers asks in a paper entitled “Accuracy of 3-dimensional printed dental models reconstructed from digital intraoral impressions.”
“A rapidly advancing digital technology in orthodontics is 3-dimensional (3D) modeling and printing, prompting a transition from a more traditional clinical workflow toward an almost exclusively digital format,” the researchers state. “There is limited literature on the accuracy of the 3D printed dental models. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of 2 types of 3D printing techniques.”
Those two types of 3D printing techniques were digital light processing (DLP) and PolyJet. For the study, the researchers took both digital and traditional alginate impressions from 30 patients. The digital impressions were used to 3D print models using both DLP and PolyJet printing techniques, and the alginate impressions were poured in stone. Measurements for the three model types (digital, DLP and Polyjet) were compared with the stone models.
Tooth measurements (first molar to first molar) included mesiodistal (crown width) and incisal/occlusal-gingival (crown height). Arch measurements included arch depth and intercanine and intermolar widths. Intraobserver reliability of the repeated measurement error was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients.
“The intraclass correlation coefficients were high for all recorded measurements, indicating that all measurements on all model types were highly reproducible,” the researchers state. “There were high degrees of agreement between all sets of models and all measurements, with the exception of the crown height measurements between the stone and DLP models, where the mean difference was statistically significant.”
Authors of the paper include Gregory B. Brown, G. Fräns Currier, Onur Kadioglu and J. Peter Kierl.
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