Different implant impression techniques for edentulous patients treated with CAD/CAM complete-arch prostheses: a...

Area of Science:

• Dental Implants
• Prosthodontics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Evaluating impression techniques is crucial for fabricating successful implant-supported prostheses.
• Traditional impression materials and methods are continuously being refined for improved accuracy and patient comfort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the clinical outcomes of plaster versus splinted vinyl polysiloxane (VPS) impression techniques for implants in totally edentulous patients.
• To assess patient satisfaction, chair time, and prosthetic/implant success rates associated with each technique.

Main Methods:

• A randomized cross-over design was employed with 38 edentulous patients undergoing implant impressions using both plaster and splinted-VPS techniques.
• Master casts were generated for prosthesis fabrication, and outcomes including implant/prosthetic success, marginal bone level (MBL) changes, patient satisfaction, and chair time were evaluated over a 3-year follow-up period.

Main Results:

• Both techniques demonstrated a 100% cumulative implant and prosthesis survival rate over 3 years.
• Plaster impressions resulted in significantly higher patient satisfaction and shorter chair time.
• No significant differences were observed in marginal bone level (MBL) changes, sulcus bleeding index (SBI), or plaque score (PS) between the groups.

Conclusions:

• Plaster impression technique provides comparable clinical outcomes to splinted-VPS for implant-supported prostheses in edentulous patients.
• The plaster technique may offer advantages in terms of patient comfort and reduced treatment time.
• While plaster impressions can be prone to fractures requiring re-takes, they eliminate the need for intraoral pre-scan resin framework try-in.