Comparison of Treatment Time for Single-Implant Crowns Between Digital and Conventional Workflows for Posterior Implant Restorations: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract

To compare the treatment time of digital and conventional workflows for single-implant crowns, as well as prostheses made of polymer-infiltrated ceramic-network (PICN; Vita Enamic, Vita Zahnfabrik) and lithium disilicate (LS2; n!ce, Straumann). A total of 40 patients who needed a single-implant crown in posterior regions were considered and randomly divided into digital workflows (n = 20) that used an intraoral scanner (IOS; iTero Element 5D, Align Technologies) and conventional workflows (n = 20) that used polyether impressions (3M ESPE Impregum Penta). Then, each group was again distributed into two subgroups based on the crown material used: PICN (n = 10) and LS2 (n = 10). Treatment time was calculated for both digital and conventional workflows. Analysis was done at a 5% confidence interval (P < .05). An independent two-sample t test was used to compare treatment time between the groups. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare clinical try-in time among subgroups. Any of the implant crowns that had to be remade in each subgroup were evaluated using the Fisher exact test. The entire process of digital and conventional workflows required 104.31 ± 20.83 and 153.48 ± 16.35 minutes, respectively. Digital workflows saved 39.2% more time than the conventional protocol for the single-implant crown treatment (P < .0001). Both digital and conventional workflow protocols can achieve a successful outcome for single-implant monolithic crowns in posterior areas. The digital protocol yielded greater timesaving over the conventional procedure in data acquisition and laboratory steps, while the time for clinical try-in and delivery were similar.