Quantitative three-dimensional analysis of dental diagnostic models obtained by two additive manufacturing techniques

Abstract

Aim and objectives: Due to the low tensile strength of gypsum that causes susceptibility to fracture of dental diagnostic plaster casts, long-term storage of these models may become problematic and inconvenient for dental healthcare practitioners. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of 3D printing these models, by testing the accuracy of dental diagnostic models produced by two additive manufacturing techniques. Material and methods: For this purpose, 20 conventional plaster models from randomly chosen subjects were selected and served as reference. The casts were digitized using a 3D scanner and virtual models were adjusted for 3D printing. The virtual models were reconstructed by using a material jetting (MJ) and reversed-stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer. The reconstructed models were digitized using a laboratory 3D scanner and the resulting mesh datasets were compared with the virtual models by using dedicated inspection software. Results: The trueness of printed models was 67.8 µm for the MJ printer and 86.7 µm for SLA printer, even though this difference was statistically significant (p> 0.05), all of the 3D printed models were clinically acceptable.