FACE SIMULATION SYSTEM FOR COMPLETE DENTURES BY APPLYING RAPID PROTOTYPING

Statement of problem. With the use of CAD/CAM technology in the fabrication of complete dentures, a face simulation program could become an integral part of the procedure. Thus far, little is known about the accuracy of face simulation programs. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a face simulation method for complete dentures. The method simulated the face after changing the arrangement of artificial teeth in complete dentures fabricated on a computer. Material and methods. The faces of 10 edentulous participants were simulated with integrated facial and denture data. The facial data of a participant wearing the Rapid Prototyping (RP) dentures and the corresponding simulation were compared. The normal distances at each of 10 anthropological measuring points were calculated and based on the results, the simulations were modified and then repeated. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used (alpha=.05). Results. For differences of more than 1 mm of the normal distance in the first simulation, the modified simulation improved the difference to less than 0.5 mm. Conclusions. The findings of the present study indicated that the method of face simulation in the fabrication of complete dentures with a computer may be clinically useful.