Application of intraoral scanning and 3D printing in the manufacture of removable partial dentures / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There is no mature computer-aided design and manufacturing system for the preparation of removable partial denture in China so far. There is no report involving large sample size. Most of the existing studies only investigated the wear effect of a few cases, and there is a need to accumulate and enrich clinical data. OBJECTIVE: To explore the application value of intraoral scanning and 3D printing in the manufacture of removable partial dentures for patients. METHODS: Sixty-three patients with Kennedy class I dentition defect who received treatment in the Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, China were included in this study. These patients consisted of 29 males and 34 females and were aged 44-63 years. In the study group, 23 patients were treated with denture scaffolds by intraoral scanning and three-dimensional printing, while in the control group, 40 patients were treated with denture scaffolds by traditional impression. The wear effect was compared between two groups after repair. The masticatory efficiency was compared between two groups before and 6, 12 and 24 months after repair. At the last follow-up, patients' satisfaction and complications were compared between the study and control groups. This study was approved by Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine (approval No. TJBDYY-2014-13-R1) in March, 2014. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The fitness (96% vs. 70%), retention (83% vs. 58%) and stability index (83% vs. 53%) of the study group were significantly higher than those of the control group (all P 0.05). At 12 and 24 months after repair, the masticatory efficiency in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P 0.05). These results suggest that intraoral scanning and 3D printing could obtain a more accurate stent model in the manufacture of partial dentures compared with traditional impression, thereby has a higher application value.