Clinical Application Of Digital-Aided Complete Dentures

We aimed to fabricate dentures from closed-mouth impression trays with established maxillomandibular relationships using digital technology. Three-dimensional (3D) models based on the tissue surface morphology were obtained from 15 recruited participants. The final digital-aided closed-mouth impressions made from these 3D structures constituted the experimental group, while impressions made from the denture after adjustment constituted the control group. Quantitative 3D deviation analysis was performed using reverse 3D engineering software to objectively evaluate the accuracy of the final impressions made by the proposed technique, and subjective evaluation was conducted using a patient follow-up survey. The average thickness of the final impression in the experimental group was approximately 1.77 mm, consistent with the accuracy and strength of silicone rubber impressions, and the average morphological deviation from that of the impressions made with the gold standard was ±0.30 mm. The participants’ feedback at the time of denture adjustment during their revisits indicated no significant difference between the dentures made with the two techniques but suggested better adhesion with the experimental technique. Deviations between the two groups in the closing-edge area were significantly larger than those in the primary and secondary stress-bearing areas. Digital technology can help make complete dentures with functions comparable to those of conventional dentures. Moreover, complete dentures made with the digital-aided technique showed better retention. Thus, a more efficient and accurate digital-aided diagnosis and treatment processes was established in this study.