Trueness of 3D-printed cobalt chromium versus titanium removable partial denture clasps.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the trueness of removable partial denture clasps fabricated with titanium (Ti) through the selective laser melting (SLM) technique compared to cobalt-chromium alloys (CoCr).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A virtual Aker clasp was designed on a scanned tooth, and SLM printers were used to print 20 claps using cobalt chromium (n = 10) and titanium alloy (n = 10). The deviation between the printed clasps and reference design was measured using the surface matching software (Geomagic control x) at rest, retentive tip, reciprocal tip, retentive shoulder, and reciprocal shoulder. An Independent t-test was used to determine the influence of 3D-printed material on the trueness (a = 0.05).

RESULTS

The gap distance in mm between the reference design and printed in titanium showed an average of 0.0001 ±0.0544, 0.0256 ±0.1309, 0.0230 ±0.1028, 0.0701 ±0.1234, and 0.0013 ±0.0735 mm in rest, reciprocal arm tip, retentive arm tip, retentive arm shoulder, and reciprocal arm shoulder, respectively. The gap distance in mm between the reference design and printed clasps in CoCr alloy showed an average of 0.0316 ±0.0692, 0.2783 ±0.1678, 0.1446 ±0.1528, 0.0315 ±0.0906, and 0.0419 ±0.1088 mm in rest, reciprocal arm tip, retentive arm tip, retentive arm shoulder, and reciprocal arm shoulder, respectively. The difference between titanium and CoCr alloys at each observation site was significant.

CONCLUSION

Clasps fabricated from titanium with SLM printing have the least deviation and better trueness compared to those fabricated from cobalt chromium.