1.Evaluation of the dimensional change of 3D-printed complete denture after post-curing
Suyeon LEE ; Younghun KWAK ; Eunchul PARK ; Heejung KIM
Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science 2022;38(4):233-241
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to assess the dimensional change of 3D-printed dentures after post-curing.
Materials and Methods:
The upper and lower dentures were designed in Exocad DentalCAD software and exported as STL files. The upper and lower dentures were printed from 10 STL files using a DLP-type dental 3D printer. The printed upper and lower dentures were cleaned, and a scan file was created using a model scanner before and after post-curing. The dimensional change was evaluated by superimposing the scanned denture files before and after post-curing and measuring the distance between measurement points on the denture. SPSS was used for statistics, and the level of significance was 5%.
Results:
The maxillary denture reduced in size during post-curing, with the most notable color change occurring in the posterior palatal region. The reduction in anteroposterior maxillary denture length (A-D, A-E, A-F), as well as the distance between the first molars on both sides (B-C), was statistically significant. After post-curing, the mandibular denture showed more noticeable color change in the posteriorly buccal and lingual region. The decrease of length on the posterior (A-M, A-D, A-E, A-L, A-H, A-I, H-I) and lingual (J-K, L-M) sides of the denture were statistically significant.
Conclusion
There was significant dimensional change in both the length and width of the 3D-printed maxillary and mandibular dentures after post-curing in this experiment. Consequently, it is seemed necessary to develop post-curing techniques and materials that reduce such denture deformation.