Trueness and Precision of Conventional vs Digital Impressions in a Kennedy Class III Case
Abstract
Objectives: This study compared the trueness and precision of conventional alginate impressions (metal tray and custom tray) and a digital impression method in a Kennedy Class III partially edentulous model.
Materials and Methods: A reference model was obtained from a polyether impression and Type III stone cast and scanned to generate reference STL data. Thirty-six impressions were allocated to three groups (n=12): metal tray alginate, custom tray alginate, and digital intraoral scanning. Test STL files were superimposed onto the reference STL, and RMS deviations were calculated for the edentulous area, teeth, palate, and whole arch. Trueness was defined as deviation from the reference model, and precision as within-group repeatability. Data were analyzed using Welch ANOVA/Games-Howell or Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn tests (α=0.05).
Results: No significant difference in trueness was found for the edentulous area (P=0.077). Significant differences were observed for teeth (P<0.001), palate (P=0.029), and whole arch (P=0.011); the digital method showed the highest deviations for teeth and whole arch but the lowest for the palate. For precision, the digital method showed significantly lower deviations in the edentulous area (P=0.004), teeth (P<0.001), and palate (P=0.046), while no difference was found for the whole arch (P=0.172).
Conclusion: The digital method demonstrated trueness comparable to conventional techniques in the edentulous area and superior precision in most regions, supporting its use for Kennedy Class III removable prosthodontic applications despite reduced trueness in tooth-bearing and whole-arch regions.
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Ethical Statement
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References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Prosthodontics
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Dila Polat
0009-0001-4844-6664
Türkiye
Alper Aktosun
*
0009-0005-3732-3297
Türkiye
Sina Saygılı
0000-0001-9411-0507
Türkiye
Tonguç Sülün
0000-0001-5518-7915
Türkiye
Publication Date
August 29, 2026
Submission Date
June 24, 2026
Acceptance Date
August 5, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Volume: 12 Number: 2