Development of a digital impression procedure using photogrammetry for complete denture fabrication.

OBJECTIVES: We developed an innovative procedure for digitizing maxillary edentulous residual ridges with a photogrammetric system capable of estimating three-dimensional (3D) digital forms from multiple two-dimensional (2D) digital images. The aim of this study was to validate the effectiveness of the photogrammetric system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Impressions of the maxillary residual ridges of five edentulous patients were taken with four kinds of procedures: three conventional impression procedures and the photogrammetric system. Plaster models were fabricated from conventional impressions and digitized with a 3D scanner. Two 3D forms out of four forms were superimposed with 3D inspection software, and differences were evaluated using a least squares best fit algorithm. RESULTS: The in vitro experiment suggested that better imaging conditions were in the horizontal range of +/- 15 degrees and at a vertical angle of 45 degrees. The mean difference between the photogrammetric image (Form A) and the image taken from conventional preliminarily impression (Form C) was 0.52 +/- 0.22 mm. The mean difference between the image taken of final impression through a special tray (Form B) and Form C was 0.26 +/- 0.06 mm. The mean difference between the image taken from conventional final impression (Form D) and Form C was 0.25 +/- 0.07 mm. The difference between Forms A and C was significantly larger than the differences between Forms B and C and between Forms D and C. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that obtaining digital impressions of edentulous residual ridges using a photogrammetric system is feasible and available for clinical use.