CAD/CAM milled removable complete dentures: an in vitro evaluation of trueness.

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the trueness of one type of CAD/CAM milled complete removable dental prostheses (CRDPs) with injection-molding and conventionally manufactured CRDPs. Thirty-three CRDPs were fabricated by three different manufacturing techniques (group CAD/CAM (AvaDent™): n=11; groupinjection molding (Ivocap™): n=11; group flask-pack-press: n=11) using a single master reference model and incubated in artificial saliva for 21days. The trueness of the entire intaglio surface along with five specific regions of interest (vestibular-flange, palate, tuberosities, alveolar crest, and post-dam areas) was compared. Non-parametric tests were used with a level of significance set at p<0.05. At baseline, there was no difference in the trueness of the total intaglio surfaces between the groups. After incubation, only the conventional CRDPs showed a significant improvement in trueness of the entire intaglio surface (p=0.0044), but improved trueness was confirmed for all three techniques in most individual regions of interest. The 80-20 %/2 median quantile of the CAD/CAM group demonstrated the highest variability of individual readings, probably due to the size of the milling instrument. However, for all three techniques, 80 % of all deviations of the complete intaglio surface after incubation in saliva were below 0.1mm. In this in vitro study, the trueness of the intaglio surface of all three investigated techniques seems to remain within a clinically acceptable range. Additional research is warranted on material-related aspects, cost-effectiveness, clinicalperformance,patient-centered outcomes, as well as other CAD/CAM techniquesfor CRDP fabrication. The intaglio surface trueness is an essential aspect in the clinical performance of CRDPs.