Comparison of the Digital and Conventional Impression Techniques Regarding the Accuracy of Soft Tissue around the Implant Using Different Viscosities of Additional Silicone

The accurate impression of the mouth and reproduction of gingiva can be regarded as a record for the production of a cast with optimum fitting and dental restoration. This study investigated the soft tissue accuracy around implant through digital and conventional methods with different viscosities of additional silicone.

An acrylic dentifrice was utilized in the upper right central edentulous area in this study. Moreover, a bone level analogous fixture with a diameter length of 12 and 4.1 mm was inserted in the edentulous area 3 mm below the gingiva parallel to the adjacent central tooth. In total, 30 impressions were made using dentifrice with the help of digital scans (6 times), conventional impressions using a custom tray and regular body additional silicone (12 times), and conventional impressions by a stock tray with putty wash silicone (12 times). Moreover, 6 casts with and 6 casts without gingival masks were prepared using the conventional method before the cast preparation. They were then scanned using the Lab scanner in the STL format. Following that, superimposition of the data and cloud compare software were utilized to compare and evaluate the changes of soft tissue around the implant in each method considering the reference method. The differences between the proposed models and the reference model were recorded, and the data were analyzed in this study.

The result of the Kruskal Wallis indicated no significant differences among the groups in terms of the mean values of the data (p < /em>=0.345).

Regarding the mismatch among the impression methods, the results showed no significant difference in this regard.