Purpose: To describe a new technique for fabricating an 3D resin model by 3D reconstruction and rapid prototyping, and to analyze the precision of this method.
Methods: An optical grating scanner was used to acquire the data of silastic cavity block , digital dental cast was reconstructed with the data through Geomagic Studio image processing software. The final 3D reconstruction was saved in the pattern of Stl. The 3D resin model was fabricated by fuse deposition modeling, and was compared with the digital model and gypsum model. The data of three groups were statistically analyzed using SPSS 16.0 software package.
Results: No significant difference was found in gypsum model,digital dental cast and 3D resin model (P>0.05).
Conclusions: Rapid prototyping manufacturing and digital modeling would be helpful for dental information acquisition, treatment design, appliance manufacturing, and can improve the communications between patients and doctors.