Accuracy of dies captured by an intraoral digital impression system using parallel confocal imaging

The purpose of this investigation was to measure the accuracy of digital impressions (DIs) compared to conventional impressions (CIs). Using the iTero system, a master cast was scanned to produce stereolithography dies. As a control group, silicone impressions were taken and poured using stone. The resulting stereolithography and stone dies were scanned and overlayed on the scanned reference image of the master cast. The mean (± standard deviation) dimensional difference to the master cast was 23.9 (± 17.6) ?m for DIs and 17.6 (± 45.6) μm for CIs. The results indicate that DIs also provides enough accuracy for clinical application.