Accuracy comparison among 3D-printing technologies to produce dental models

Abstract

Background: Little is known on accuracy comparisons among 3D-printing trueness and precision to produce dental models. The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of different 3D-printing technologies (SLA; DLP; LCD poly and monochromatic; and Polyjet). Methods: Fifteen models were manufactured by the five different 3D printers used in this study. The manufactured models were physically measured in the corresponding lengths for trueness and reproducibility. Means and standard deviations were obtained for the five computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) methods and compared. Results: No significant difference was found in the comparison between observers in all measurements performed with the different model algorithms. PairwiseWilcoxon non-parametric test comparisons of trueness between 3D-printers revealed statistically significant differences between Stratasys versus Anycubic (p = 0.025) and Anycubic versus Form 2 (p = 0.048). Conclusion: The present findings suggest that the 3D-printing methods may have small significant discrepancies when compared to the original digital files, which may not be clinically relevant. In addition, there were no significant discrepancies among median measurements of each printing method (within 3D-printer analysis), which suggests that, for dental casts, all of the studied devices performed similarly.