With continuing technological developments, there have been advances in the field of fixed prosthetics, particularly in impression-taking techniques. These technological advances mean that a wide variety of diagnostic and/or rehabilitation possibilities can be explored without the need for physical models. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of three intraoral scanners used in oral implant rehabilitation using an extraoral scanner as a reference and varying the scanning area. Three models representing different clinical scenarios were scanned 15 times by each intraoral scanner and three times by the extraoral scanner. The readings were analyzed and overlaid using engineering software (Geomagic® Control X software (Artec Europe, Luxembourg)). Statistically significant differences in accuracy were found between the three intraoral scanners, iTero® (Align Technology Inc., San Jose, CA, USA), Medit® (Medit®: Seoul, Korea), and Planmeca® (Planmeca®: Helsinki, Finland). In all clinical scenarios, the iTero® scanner had the best trueness (24.4 μm), followed by the Medit® (26.4 μm) and Planmeca® (42.1 μm). The Medit® showed the best precision (18.00 μm) followed by the iTero® (19.20 μm) and Planmeca® (34.30 μm). We concluded that the iTero® scanner had the highest reproducibility and accuracy in the clinical setting.
Keywords: accuracy; computer-aided design; computer-aided manufacturing; dental implants; implant-supported prosthesis; impressions; precision.