Comparison of the Accuracy between Denture Bases Produced by Subtractive and Additive Manufacturing Methods: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Today, two different types of CAD-CAM fabrication methods for complete denture bases are available besides the conventional protocols: a subtractive milling process from a prepolymerized block of polymethylmethacrylate and an additive manufacturing process that built the denture base using a light-cured liquid in a VAT-polymerization process. The aim of this study was to evaluate and to compare the accuracy and precision of denture prosthetic bases made with subtractive and additive manufacturing technologies and to compare them with a denture base with the conventional method in muffle. From the results obtained, 3D printing dentures show a statistically significant higher accuracy than milled prosthetic bases. Milled prosthetic bases have similar accuracy than conventional fabricated dentures.

Keywords

• denture design
• CAD-CAM denture base
• 3D printing
• milled denture base
• tissue-congruent denture fit