Accuracy of Implant-Supported Copy Overdentures Fabricated Using Either an Intraoral Scanner and a 3D Printer or the Conventional Copy Denture Technique: A Comparative Study.

Purpose: To compare the 3D accuracy of copy dentures fabricated using an IOS (IOS copy denture) to that of copy dentures fabricated using the conventional method (conventional copy denture).

Materials And Methods: Maxillary and mandibular complete dentures were fabricated and scanned using a high-precision dental laboratory scanner to obtain data (basic data). Optical impressions of the dentures were recorded with the IOS to obtain data (IOS reference dentures). The IOS copy denture was fabricated using a 3D printer after configuring the data using the software. The conventional copy dentures were fabricated by making impressions of the complete dentures and pouring the room-temperature curing resin into them. The IOS copy dentures and conventional copy dentures were scanned using a high-precision dental laboratory scanner to obtain data. The data obtained were imported into 3D analysis software, and the IOS reference denture, IOS copy denture, and conventional copy denture data were each superimposed on the basic data for 3D evaluation by color mapping and calculation of the concordance rate.

Results: Statistically significant differences in the concordance rates were observed between the IOS reference dentures and IOS copy dentures and between IOS copy dentures and conventional copy dentures (P < .05), but not between maxillary and mandibular complete dentures (P > .05).

Conclusion: The IOS copy dentures demonstrated greater accuracy than the conventional copy dentures.