Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the effects of multiple sterilization cycles and repeated clinical use on the stability of monoblock titanium and PEEK scanbodies.
Materials and methods: Ten monoblock titanium and PEEK scanbodies were paired up, thus forming a total of ten study groups. Each pair was scanned using an intraoral scanner to record a reference scan. Study groups underwent 30 cycles of tightening, loosening and sterilization, respectively. Scanning was performed after every five cycles, resulting in six study scans per group. Linear (∆X, ∆Y and ∆Z-axis), angular (∆ANGLE) and three-dimensional (Euclidean distance, ∆EUC) deviations were calculated and compared using two-way ANOVA test.
Results: The number of repeated cycles was insignificant on scanbody deviations for both of the scanbody materials (p>0.05). The scanbody material had a significant impact, with titanium scanbodies demonstrating significantly higher deviations in ∆X, ∆Z and ∆EUC compared to PEEK scanbodies (p<0.05).
Conclusion: PEEK scanbodies provided more accurate and more consistent digital scans than titanium.
Keywords: Accuracy; Dental Materials; Materials Testing; MeSH Terms: Dental Implant-Abutment Design; Titanium; digital scan; scanbody.
University of Zagreb School of Dental Medicine.