Evaluation of impact of intraoral scanning technology and scan body design on the accuracy of maxillary complete arch digital scans: A clinical study

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this clinical study was to evaluate the accuracy in the maxillary arch, encompassing both trueness and precision, of 2 distinct intraoral scanning systems and 2 diverse scan body systems in comparison with the conventional reference method.

Material and methods: Two participants were recruited with 6 maxillary bone-level implants (JDEvolution Plus; JDentalCare) placed in positions corresponding to the right first molar, right canine, right central incisor, left central incisor, left canine, and left first molar. All implants had multiunit abutments (Conical Abutment Straight; JDentalCare) screwed to the implants. Definitive casts from 2 edentulous maxillary impressions were made using a conventional method. The casts were digitized to create reference models using a laboratory scanner (E3; 3Shape A/S). Two experimental groups were created based on the IOS used: the TRIOS 3 group (TR3) and the Primescan group (PS). Two subgroups were generated depending on the scan body system used to digitize the spatial position of the implants: IPD scan body (IPD) and DAS scan body (DAS). The digital implant scan discrepancies between the control group and experimental scans were calculated. The normality of the data was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test (α=.05). Two-way ANOVA and post hoc pairwise comparison tests were used to compare the trueness, precision, and interaction between the intraoral scanner and the scan body (α=.05) RESULTS: Statistically significant differences (P<.001) were found between the intraoral scanners tested. No significant differences were found between the IPD and DAS scan body systems (P=.649), and none were found for the interaction between the IOS and the scan body (P=.524). Significant differences were observed between the following groups: PS-IPD and TR3-IPD, PS-IPD and TR3-DAS, PS-DAS and TR3-IPD, and PS-DAS and TR3-DAS (all P<.001).

Conclusions: The combination of intraoral scanner and scan body system is crucial to improve the accuracy of digital complete arch intraoral implant scans. In the maxillary arch, the Primescan IOS obtained the highest accuracy when compared with the TRIOS 3 IOS, independently of the scan body system used.