Assessment of Internal Fitness on Resin Crown Fabricated by Digital Light Processing 3D Printer

Kang, Wol; Kim, Min Su; Kim, Won Gi

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Recently, three-dimensional (3D) printing has been hailed as a disruptive technology in dentistry. Among 3D printers, a digital light processing (DLP) 3D printer has certain advantages, such as high precision and relatively low cost. Therefore, the latest trend in resin crown manufacturing is the use of DLP 3D printers. However, studies on the internal fitness of such resin crowns are insufficient. The recently introduced 3D evaluation method makes it possible to visually evaluate the error of the desired area. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the internal fitness of resin crowns fabricated a by DLP 3D printer using the 3D evaluation method.
METHODS
The working model was chosen as the maxillary molar implant model. A total of 20 resin crowns were manufactured by dividing these into two groups. One group was manufactured by subtractive manufacturing system (PMMA), while the other group was manufactured by additive manufacturing system, which uses a DLP 3D printer. Resin crowns data were measured using a 3D evaluation program. Internal fitness was calculated by root mean square (RMS). The RMS was calculated using the Geomagic Verify software, and the mean and standard deviation (SD) were measured. For statistical analysis, IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows ver. 22.0 (IBM Corp., USA) was used. Then, independent t-test was performed between the two groups.
RESULTS
The mean±SD of the RMS were 41.51±1.51 and 43.09±2.32 for PMMA and DLP, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between PMMA and DLP.
CONCLUSION
Evaluation of internal fitness of the resin crown made using a DLP 3D printer and subtractive manufacturing system showed no statistically significant differences, and clinically acceptable results were obtained.