Digital models: How can dental arch form be verified chairside?

Area of Science:

• Orthodontics
• Dental Technology

Background:

• Traditional plaster dental casts aid in assessing maxillary arch form and fabricating orthodontic archwires.
• Digital dental models present challenges for obtaining physical dental records.
• A chairside tool for dental arch form assessment is needed for digital models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical accuracy of paper printouts from digital dental models for assessing dental arch form.
• To compare measurements from paper printouts with plaster casts and digital models.
• To determine the utility of paper printouts as a chairside tool for orthodontic archwire fabrication.

Main Methods:

• 37 lower arch dental models were analyzed.
• Intercanine width, intermolar width, and dental arch length were measured.
• Measurements were compared across plaster casts, digital models, and paper printouts using an Ortho Insight 3D scanner.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences were found between plaster casts and digital models (p > 0.05).
• Paper printouts showed statistically significant, yet clinically negligible, differences in measurements (p < 0.001).
• Paper printouts underestimated intercanine and intermolar widths and overestimated arch length.

Conclusions:

• Paper printouts derived from digital dental models are clinically accurate for dental arch form assessment.
• This method provides a viable chairside tool for fabricating individualized orthodontic archwires.
• Paper printouts offer a practical alternative when physical dental records are limited.