Comparative accuracy assessment of analog and virtual wax-up in prosthetic-driven planning and guided implant...

This retrospective cohort study evaluated the accuracy of analog versus virtual wax-ups in prosthetic-driven planning and guided surgery.

There were 73 patients with a single missing posterior tooth who underwent either an analog or virtual wax-up design following a prosthetic-driven concept. Intraoral scans of the final restoration were performed 1 year after completion of the restoration. The accuracy was assessed by comparing the deviation between the final restoration and the wax-up (analog or virtual) of each patient at the prosthetic level. The maximum deviation in six areas (buccal top, buccal mid, buccal bottom, lingual top, lingual mid, and lingual bottom) was recorded. The accuracy was also assessed at the implant level by comparing the deviation between the virtual new implant position, which was redesigned based on the final restoration as the new wax-up, and the planned position. The mean deviations in the coronal, apical, angular, and depth measurements were recorded. A two-tailed independent t-test and a one-way analysis of variance were used.

Statistically significant differences were observed between the buccal (P = 0.03) and lingual tops (P = 0.03) at the prosthetic level. Significant differences were observed in the angular (P < 0.01) and coronal (P = 0.01) deviations at the implant level. There were smaller deviations between the analog wax-ups and final restorations regardless of the prosthetic or implant level.

Analog wax-ups were preferable to virtual wax-ups for preoperative design in computer-guided implant surgery.