Application of Intra-Oral Dental Scanners in the Digital Workflow of Implantology

Abstract

Intra-oral scanners will play a central role in digital dentistry in the near future. In this study the accuracy of three intra-oral scanners was compared. Materials and methods: A master model made of stone was fitted with three high precision manufactured PEEK cylinders and scanned with three intra-oral scanners: the CEREC (Sirona), the iTero (Cadent) and the Lava COS (3M). In software the digital files were imported and the distance between the centres of the cylinders and the angulation between the cylinders was assessed. These values were compared to the measurements made on a high accuracy 3D scan of the master model. Results: The distance errors were the smallest and most consistent for the Lava COS. The distance errors for the Cerec were the largest and least consistent. All the angulation errors were small. Conclusions: The Lava COS in combination with a high accuracy scanning protocol resulted in the smallest and most consistent errors of all three scanners tested when considering mean distance errors in full arch impressions both in absolute values and in consistency for both measured distances. For the mean angulation errors, the Lava COS had the smallest errors between cylinders 1–2 and the largest errors between cylinders 1–3, although the absolute difference with the smallest mean value (iTero) was very small (0,0529°). An expected increase in distance and/or angular errors over the length of the arch due to an accumulation of registration errors of the patched 3D surfaces could be observed in this study design, but the effects were statistically not significant.Clinical relevanceFor making impressions of implant cases for digital workflows, the most accurate scanner with the scanning protocol that will ensure the most accurate digital impression should be used. In our study model that was the Lava COS with the high accuracy scanning protocol.

Fit of 4-unit FDPs from CoCr and zirconia after conventional and digital impressions

“…This trend goes in line with the study results of van de Meer et al [24], who compared the accuracy of the three intraoral scanners CEREC bluecam (Sirona Dental System GmbH, Bensheim, Germany), iTero (Cadent) and Lava™ C.O.S. (3M ESPE) [22].…”

Evaluation of the accuracy and precision of four intraoral scanners with 70% reduced inlay and four-unit bridge models of international standard

“…In previous studies, natural tooth-shaped models manually prepared by the researcher or full-arch dentiforms were used to test the accuracy and precision of intraoral scanners 6,9,14,20,23,24) . Alongside the development of various types of intraoral scanners, multiple studies have been conducted on their accuracy.…”

“…In particular, development of intraoral scanners has changed the paradigm of impression procedures from impression materials and gypsum-based indirect impression techniques to digital dentistry based chair-side impression techniques [3][4][5] . Quick and easy digital impressions offer convenience to both patients and dentists, and are a core technology for dental CAD/CAM systems 6,7) .…”

“…Intraoral scanner performance is evaluated by measuring the accuracy and precision of the scanned image 6,9) . Evaluation of the precision and accuracy of oral scanners allows development of methods to reduce impression error in dental clinics and increase the fabrication success rates of customized prostheses.…”

A process-oriented methodology for evaluating the impact of IT: A proposal and an application in healthcare

“…The intra-oral scanner makes the traditional impression superfluous (38). So, instead of multiple appointments in which an impression needs to be made using an impression tray and putty it is also possible to have one appointment in which a digital impression is made using an Intra-Oral Scanner (IOS).…”