Effects of Structural Designs on the Accuracy, Dimensional Stability, and Material Consumption of Digital Light...

Area of Science:

• Dental Materials Science
• Additive Manufacturing
• Biomaterials Engineering

Background:

• Digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing is increasingly used for fabricating dental models.
• Optimizing structural designs is crucial for enhancing the performance of these models.
• Evaluating accuracy, dimensional stability, and material efficiency is essential for clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of four distinct structural designs on DLP-printed resin dental models.
• To compare the trueness, precision, and long-term dimensional stability of these designs.
• To determine the material efficiency and printing time associated with each design.

Main Methods:

• Four structural designs (complete palatal solid, complete palatal hollow, horseshoe-shaped solid, horseshoe-shaped hollow) were created.
• Dental models were fabricated using DLP 3D printing technology.
• Trueness, precision, and 28-day dimensional stability were evaluated using 3D scanning and Geomagic software analysis.

Main Results:

• The horseshoe-shaped solid (HSS) design demonstrated superior trueness on day 1.
• Solid models (CPS and HSS) maintained stability over 28 days, while hollow models showed significant deviation after 7 days.
• The HSS design reduced printing time by 19% and material consumption by 30% compared to the complete palatal solid (CPS) design.

Conclusions:

• Structural design significantly affects the accuracy and dimensional stability of 3D-printed dental models.
• The HSS design provides an optimal balance of stability and material efficiency, offering clinical advantages.
• All evaluated designs produced models within the clinically acceptable accuracy range.