Comparing the Accuracy of Dental Measurements – Digital vs Manual: an In-Vivo Study

Aim: The purpose of this in-vivo study is to determine and compare the accuracy of dental measurements calculated on physical and digital models with the measurements taken directly from the patients’ mouth.Methods: This study was performed on 40 subjects. Forty maxillary impressions were produced using a condensation silicone putty material and constructed into a physical model. A digital vernier caliper was utilized to take direct measurements from the patients’ mouth as well as from the physical models. CS 3600® was employed for direct intra-oral scanning for the subjects’ dentition and generating the digital model. Three-dimensional reverse engineering software was used to make measurements on the digital model. One-way ANOVA test was used to determine the accuracy between the control group, physical models, and virtual group. Tukey’s post-hoc analysis was done to compare between the individual group.Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the physical (p-value=0.254) and virtual models (p-value = 0.168) as compared to those measurements taken directly from the mouth.Conclusion: The results of the current study demonstrate that intraoral scans are clinically sound to be used in diagnosis and treatment planning in dentistry and provide a professional and well-grounded substitute to the use of conventional plaster models.