Occlusal Surface Accuracy of Milled and DLP-Printed Complete Denture Teeth: Effects of Arch Segmentation and Tooth-Set Size

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Türkcan M. B., Eroğlu E., Kıran K.

Digital Dentistry Journal, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1, 2026 (Scopus)

Özet

Objective

This in vitro study evaluated the effects of manufacturing method, one-piece or three-segment configuration, and tooth-set size on the occlusal surface morphology of complete denture teeth relative to the reference computer-aided design (CAD) model.

Materials and Methods

Eighty-four maxillary tooth arches were fabricated in a balanced 2 × 2 × 3 factorial design (n = 7): digital light processing (DLP) or milling; one-piece or three-segment fabrication; and small, medium, or large tooth sets. Technology-specific photopolymer resin and prepolymerized polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) systems were used. Occlusal evaluation regions were predefined on the reference CAD geometry. One-piece arches were aligned as a whole and segments independently to their corresponding reference regions using best-fit registration. Root mean square (RMS) deviations were calculated in millimeters; segment values were combined using an equal-weight quadratic mean. Data were analyzed using three-way analysis of variance and Bonferroni-adjusted comparisons.

Results

Overall mean RMS values were 0.0713 ± 0.0208 mm for DLP and 0.1040 ± 0.0176 mm for milling, and 0.0746 ± 0.0220 mm for three-segment and 0.1007 ± 0.0214 mm for one-piece fabrication. DLP and segmentation had lower RMS within corresponding subgroups, and RMS increased with tooth size (Bonferroni-adjusted p < 0.001). The three-way interaction was significant (p = 0.001); the method × tooth size interaction was not.

Conclusions

The factorial comparison provides quantitative data for developing the tested manufacturing protocols to reproduce CAD-defined occlusal morphology. Independent segment alignment excludes assembly-related positional errors. The small RMS differences may have negligible clinical impact in vivo, requiring validation of bonded assemblies before recommending routine three-segment fabrication.