Comparing the Accuracy of Conventional Gypsum and 3D-Printed Dental Casts Using Three-Dimensional Analysis

Introduction Dental impressions and casts play a critical role in dental care, facilitating diagnoses and the fabrication of prostheses. Traditional methods of fabrication involve elastomeric materials that are more prone to errors and patient discomfort. Digital advancements offer promising alternatives, yet their accuracy and applicability to military dentistry remain under-explored. This study evaluates the accuracy of digital casts produced with material available in the Military Health System compared to conventional methods.Materials and Methods Using a digital (n = 10) and analog (n = 10) methodology casts were fabricated from a reference cast (n = 1). The reference and cast samples were scanned with a reference scanner to generate stereolithography files. These files were used to generate full arch, single crown, fixed dental prosthesis, and inlay digital casts which were then compared using a three-dimensional (3D) comparison software to evaluate accuracy. Root mean square values were obtained, giving a quantitative evaluation of the deviation of each sample from the reference cast. Statistical analysis consisted of a Shapiro-Wilk and Levene test to account for homogeneity of variances in each group. An ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test were used to determine differences in accuracy among the full arch and a two-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test evaluated differences in trueness among the casts of the individual preparations.Results Analog full arch casts had an average root mean square of 106 +/- 19.18 mu m when examining trueness and 12 +/- 2.58 mu m for precision. Digital full arch casts had an average root mean square of 51.9 +/- 5.39 mu m when examining trueness and 4.2 +/- 1.57 mu m for precision. Overall digital casts surpassed analog counterparts in accuracy. Fixed dental prostheses were found to be the only group, which showed no statistically significant difference between digital and analog.Conclusion These findings validate the potential of digital workflows in enhancing the speed and accuracy of dental care in the Military Health System, while underscoring the need for further exploration and refinement in specific clinical contexts.