Time efficiency and cost of fabricating removable complete dentures using digital, hybrid, and conventional workflows: A systematic review.

Statement of problem: Analysis of the cost and time efficiency of removable complete dentures (RCDs) fabricated using conventional and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) processes remains limited.

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the time efficiency and cost of conventional, hybrid, and completely digital workflows throughout the entire process of RCD fabrication.

Material and methods: Article selection followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 guidelines and was registered with the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO). The bibliographic search covered the PubMed and Cochrane databases using keywords related to removable complete dentures, digital workflows, and economic factors and covered articles from January 2010 to June 2024. In total, 1188 articles were identified and assessed. A bottom-up search identified an additional 10 articles through cited works. Data on cost and time analyses were reported in a qualitative synthesis.

Results: The qualitative synthesis included 8 articles published between 2015 and 2024 showing that digital and hybrid workflows generally reduced both clinical and laboratory time and overall costs compared with conventional workflows. The hybrid protocol required significantly less clinical time, with reductions ranging from approximately 1 to 4 hours. Hybrid and completely digital workflows reduced laboratory manufacturing time by approximately 6 to 7 hours compared with conventional workflows. Cost analyses revealed that digital and hybrid workflows were more profitable and cost effective than conventional workflows.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that digital and hybrid workflows for RCD fabrication are more time efficient and cost effective than conventional methods.