3D Printing in Prosthetics and Dental Restorations: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate 3D printing technologies available for the production of prostheses and dental restorations. A secondary objective is to compare the accuracy of impressions taken with intraoral scanners to traditional methods. Data Sources: An electronic search of the database using the combination of the terms “3D printing prosthesis” and “3D printing dental restoration” was conducted. Data Extraction: Reports of studies performing impression acquisitions, fabrication of prosthetic components, or restorations using 3D printing technologies were included. Studies not reporting adequate details were excluded. A qualitative analysis of the selected studies was performed by two independent observers. A secondary quantitative analysis for publications comparing the accuracy of methodologies was performed where applicable. Results: A total of 466 papers were screened. After title and abstract screening, 27 papers were selected for the qualitative synthesis, and 8 for the quantitative synthesis. All studies compared different types of 3D printing technologies and/or conventional techniques for the production of prostheses and dental restorations. The secondary analysis on the accuracy of the different impression acquisition methodologies showed favorable results for digital impressions taken with intraoral scanners. Conclusions: There are many 3D printing technologies that can be used in the field of prosthodontics, as well as dental restorations. Nonetheless, most of the studies are of a pilot nature and their results should be interpreted with caution. Furthermore, the number of studies comparing methodologies of different nature that could lead to interesting conclusions is limited.