Chairside digital design and manufacturing method for children's band and loop space maintainers

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Dentistry
• Digital Dentistry
• Biomaterials Engineering

Background:

• Premature loss of primary teeth necessitates space maintainers to prevent arch collapse.
• Traditional fabrication of band and loop space maintainers can be time-consuming.
• Digital workflows offer potential for improved efficiency and personalization in dental device fabrication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate the clinical feasibility of a chairside digital design and manufacturing method for pediatric band and loop space maintainers.
• To compare the efficiency and clinical performance of chairside manufactured space maintainers with conventionally fabricated ones.

Main Methods:

• Collected clinical data from 10 children requiring space maintenance.
• Utilized intraoral scan data to create digital models.
• Employed specialized software for rapid, personalized design of band and loop structures.
• Manufactured space maintainers chairside using CNC machining (experimental group) and in a lab via 3D printing (control group).
• Assessed model fit and evaluated clinical feasibility (fit, stability) by expert pediatric dentists using the Visual Analogue Scale.

Main Results:

• Chairside design and manufacturing for 10 space maintainers were completed in under 1 hour per device.
• Expert evaluation indicated superior fit and stability for the chairside manufactured (experimental) group compared to the control group.
• Both fabrication methods resulted in space maintainers that met clinical requirements.

Conclusions:

• The proposed chairside digital method enables same-day fitting of pediatric band and loop space maintainers during the initial appointment.
• This innovative approach demonstrates excellent clinical feasibility and significant potential for widespread application in pediatric dentistry.