Time-Efficiency of a New Device for Digital Setup Artificial Teeth

Objectives: To evaluate time-efficiency for maxillary complete denture teeth arrangement with a new device to register the esthetic references for digital setup artificial teeth compared with a conventional method.
Methods: A total of 23 edentulous were assessed from both digital and conventional methods for manufacturing of maxillary complete dentures. The new device is comprised of a 3D-printed maxillary tray and a lip arch. Teeth arrangement was performed by CAD software tools (DWOS, Straumann) and by conventional wax setup technique. Clinical procedures for trial dentures included evaluations of the lip support, buccal corridor, occlusal plane, reference lines, teeth alignment, and teeth size. The teeth arrangement was evaluated regarding time-efficiency and errors in the try-in stage. Statistical analysis included the Chi-square test for assessment of occurrence of failures and the paired t-test for evaluation of the time-efficiency (α ≤ 0.05), comparing both techniques. The descriptive analysis demonstrated the types of errors for both methods.
Results: The occurrence of failures was similar between the digital and conventional methods (p=0.767). For conventional method, major failures were observed for tooth alignment (17.4%) while for digital technique major errors were found regarding lip support (15.4%). However, no occurrence of errors was evidenced considering tooth size and occlusal plane for conventional technique, and buccal corridor for the digital method. Operational time for teeth assembly of digital dentures was lower compared to the conventional technique (p<0.001).
Conclusions: The conventional occlusal rim adjustment is prone error because is performed several steps and depends on clinical professional and dental technician skills. The new device showed clinical applicability with occurrence of failures similar to the conventional method. However, digital setup artificial teeth using the device demonstrated better time-efficiency compared to the conventional wax setup method.