Comparison of Artificial Tooth Position in Dentures Fabricated by Heat Curing and Additive Manufacturing

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the displacement of tooth arrangement in dentures fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM) and heat curing.

Methods: Three-dimensional (3D) scanning was performed for edentulous jaw models. After the teeth were arranged, 3D scanning for the wax denture was performed. Heat-cured dentures were fabricated with heat-cure polymer resin. Based on data obtained by subtracting the model data from wax denture data, AM dentures were fabricated from ultraviolet-cured acrylic resin. Accuracy was verified by superimposing heat-cured and AM dentures on the tooth region data from the wax dentures and measuring displacement of the tooth arrangement.

Results: In the maxillary dentures, the amount of tooth displacement for the heat-cured dentures and for the AM dentures ranged from -0.08 to +0.06 mm and from -0.25 to +0.06 mm respectively. A significant difference was observed between two dentures. In the mandibular dentures, the amount of tooth displacement for the heat-cured dentures and for the AM dentures ranged from -0.09 to +0.07 mm and from -0.03 to +0.07 mm respectively. No significant difference was observed between two dentures.

Conclusions: The artificial teeth of the maxillary dentures fabricated by AM showed a greater displacement compared to those by heat curing.