Trueness and Precision of Intraoral Scanners for 3D-Printed Orthodontic Models with Attachments: An In Vitro...

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Biomedical Engineering
• Digital Health

Background:

• Additive manufacturing and CAD/CAM technologies enable 3D-printed orthodontic models for digital aligner workflows.
• Intraoral scanners (IOS) are crucial for capturing dental morphology and attachment geometries in these workflows.
• Limited comparative data exists on IOS accuracy with complex orthodontic structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the trueness and precision of five different intraoral scanners.
• To evaluate IOS performance on 3D-printed orthodontic models featuring attachments.

Main Methods:

• Thirty 3D-printed single-arch orthodontic models with attachments were scanned twice by each of five IOS.
• The Smart Optics Vinyl laboratory scanner was used as the reference.
• Scans were analyzed using CloudCompare to calculate root mean square (RMS) deviation for accuracy assessment.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in trueness and precision were observed among the scanners (p < 0.001).
• Primescan, TRIOS 3, and iTero element 5D demonstrated comparable high trueness, outperforming Rapideye MI-1000.
• Primescan exhibited the highest precision, followed closely by TRIOS 3, with all tested scanners (except Rapideye MI-1000) showing clinically acceptable accuracy.

Conclusions:

• Most tested intraoral scanners are accurate enough for digital orthodontic and additive manufacturing workflows.
• Primescan, TRIOS 3, and iTero element 5D offer high trueness, while Primescan provides superior precision.
• Accurate IOS performance enhances the reliability of 3D-printed models for aligner production.