Engineering of an auxiliary device for intraoral scanning of edentulous jaws with dental implants

Objective. To develop a prototype design of a universal auxiliary geometric device (AGD) for intraoral scanning of edentulous jaws with dental implants, based on the analysis of existing solutions, and to integrate it into a CAD/CAM workflow. Materials and methods. A mandibular stone reference model with four multi-unit abutment analogs in positions 3.5, 3.2, 4.2, and 4.5 was used. On the basis of a literature review, design requirements for the AGD were formulated and three variants of scan bodies with a unified intermediate part were modelled. Intraoral scanning was performed with a 3Shape TRIOS 3 scanner, and the acquired datasets were processed in Exocad 3.2 to construct virtual implant analogs. Accuracy was assessed by comparing the test scans with the reference model scan in CloudCompare with calculation of linear and angular deviations. Results. The SB3 design demonstrated the lowest linear deviations (39 ± 4 µm; range, 36—44 µm) and angular deviations (0.44±0.16°; range, 0.26—0.67°), markedly outperforming SB1 and SB2 in both metrics. SB3 showed minimal variability between implant positions, indicating high stability of spatial transfer. Conclusion. The developed AGD prototype provides high accuracy and reproducibility of implant position transfer during intraoral scanning of edentulous jaws and may be considered a promising alternative to existing systems for clinical application within a full-digital workflow.