title: Accuracy and precision of occlusal contacts of stereolithographic casts mounted by digital interocclusal registrations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little peer-reviewed information is available regarding the accuracy and precision of the occlusal contact reproduction of digitally mounted stereolithographic casts.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the accuracy and precision of occlusal contacts among stereolithographic casts mounted by digital occlusal registrations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four complete anatomic dentoforms were arbitrarily mounted on a semi-adjustable articulator in maximal intercuspal position and served as the 4 different simulated patients (SP). A total of 60 digital impressions and digital interocclusal registrations were made with a digital intraoral scanner to fabricate 15 sets of mounted stereolithographic (SLA) definitive casts for each dentoform. After receiving a total of 60 SLA casts, polyvinyl siloxane (PVS) interocclusal records were made for each set. The occlusal contacts for each set of SLA casts were measured by recording the amount of light transmitted through the interocclusal records. To evaluate the accuracy between the SP and their respective SLA casts, the areas of actual contact (AC) and near contact (NC) were calculated. For precision analysis, the coefficient of variation (CoV) was used. The data was analyzed with t tests for accuracy and the McKay and Vangel test for precision (α=.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The accuracy analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the SP and the SLA cast of each dentoform (P<.05). For the AC in all dentoforms, a significant increase was found in the areas of actual contact of SLA casts compared with the contacts present in the SP (P<.05). Conversely, for the NC in all dentoforms, a significant decrease was found in the occlusal contact areas of the SLA casts compared with the contacts in the SP (P<.05). The precision analysis demonstrated the different CoV values between AC (5.8 to 8.8%) and NC (21.4 to 44.6%) of digitally mounted SLA casts, indicating that the overall precision of the SLA cast was low.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For the accuracy evaluation, statistically significant differences were found between the occlusal contacts of all digitally mounted SLA casts groups, with an increase in AC values and a decrease in NC values. For the precision assessment, the CoV values of the AC and NC showed the digitally articulated cast's inability to reproduce the uniform occlusal contacts.
authors.affiliation: Student, Marquette University School of Dentistry, Milwaukee, Wis.
authors.forename: Jason T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Krahenbuhl
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of General Dental Sciences, Marquette University School of Dentistry, Milwaukee, Wis. Electronic address: seokhwan.cho@marquette.edu.
authors.forename: Seok-Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Resident, Marquette University School of Dentistry, Milwaukee, Wis.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Irelan
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis.
authors.forename: Naveen K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Bansal
mesh_terms: D003760:Dental Impression Materials; D003761:Dental Impression Technique / Q000295:instrumentation; D003766:Dental Occlusion; D006801:Humans; D007574:Jaw Relation Record / Q000379:methods; D003765:Models, Dental; D011145:Polyvinyls; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital; D012833:Siloxanes
chemical_list: D003760:Dental Impression Materials; D011145:Polyvinyls; D012833:Siloxanes; C034183:vinyl polysiloxane