Clinical performance of intraoral digital impression for fixed prosthodontics: a Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the clinical performance of the intraoral digital impression (IDI) in the fixed prosthodontics. METHODS: Databases of Medline (Ovid), EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and CNKI were searched for randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the use of IDI in fixed prosthodontics until May 2020. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. A Meta-analysis was conducted when available. RESULTS: Eleven RCTs involving 618 patients were included in this study. A total of 2 and 3 studies had low and high risks of bias, respectively, and other included studies had a medium risk of bias. Results illustrated that the IDI group could shorten the impression-taken time [SMD=-5.63, 95%CI (-11.25, -0.01), P=0.05] and improve the accuracy of the marginal fit [SMD=-0.53, 95%CI (-0.84, -0.22), P=0.000 7] compared with the conventional impression group. However, no significant difference was observed in the internal fit. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence indicated a good clinical performance of IDI for fixed prosthodontics. Notably, high-quality studies are expected to further support the conclusion.