Accuracy of an intraoral scanner that uses optical triangulation and confocal microscopy technology for full-arch digital implant impression: in vivo and in vitro evaluation

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyse the accuracy of the full-arch digital implant impressions under both in vivo and in vitro conditions. Methods: A provisional prosthesis was fabricated for a patient with four implants placed in the edentulous maxilla. The master model was obtained using provisional prostheses. Both intraoral scans (IOS group) and extraoral scans (EIOS group) of the master model were performed using an intraoral scanner. The accuracy of the IOS and EIOS groups was calculated for three distances and three angles between the scan bodies (A-B, A-C, and A-D), as well as for the mean deviations of all segments (total deviations). Results: Trueness and precision showed a tendency to decrease as the scanning range increased in both groups. The mean total distance trueness was found to be 121.53±89.55 μm and 57.75±65.17 μm for the IOS group and the EIOS group, respectively (p=.001). The mean total angle trueness was found to be 0.53±0.28 degrees and 0.13±0.09 degrees for the IOS group and the EIOS group, respectively (p