Evaluation of Retention for Maxillary Complete Denture Constructed by Conventional and 3D Printing Techniques

Abstract

Purpose: Evaluating retention of maxillary complete dentures fabricated by threedimensional (3D) printing technique compared to conventional technique. Subjects and Methods: Ten completely edentulous patients were selected from the outpatient clinic of Removable Prosthodontics Department, Faculty of Dental Medicine for Girls, Al-Azhar University. Each patient received maxillary and mandibular dentures fabricated by conventional technique besides maxillary denture fabricated by 3D printing technique. All patients were divided equally into two groups; First group patients received conventional dentures first, then 3D printed ones. Second group patients received 3D printed dentures initially and conventional dentures later. Results: Regarding denture type, it was found that 3D printed dentures showed statistically significant higher retention at (P ≤ 0.05) compared to conventional dentures. Furtherly, pair-wise comparisons between follow up times revealed that there was a statistically significant increase in mean retention values after one month as well as from one to three months. Conclusion: Utilizing 3D printing technique in complete denture fabrication yielded better retention compared to conventional technique. Nevertheless, regardless of denture type, retention improves over time.