3D Printing/Additive Manufacturing of Single- Implant Overdentures. A Randomized controlled clinical trial.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Mandibular single-implant overdenture is a well-established treatment modality for the management of completely edentulous patients. The use of CAD/CAM printing technology to fabricate complete dentures and overdentures is burgeoning. The trial aimed to clinically evaluate 3D-printed single-implant overdentures and compare outcomes to those of overdentures manufactured using conventional techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized clinical trial (RCT) was designed. Twenty-eight participants were randomly allocated into two equal groups. Participants in the control group received conventionally manufactured single-implant overdentures, while participants in the printed group received digital light processing (DLP) printed single-implant overdentures. An evaluation was conducted to assess the rates of implant survival and success, as well as overdenture survival and success, along with the measurement of maximum biting force (MBF) over a one-year follow-up period. Data was collected and subjected to statistical analysis. Statistical significance was determined using a two-sided p-value with a threshold of less than 0.05. RESULTS: The printed denture group had higher implant survival (100%) and success rates (92.8%) compared to the conventional denture group (85.7% survival, 85.7% success). Overdenture survival and success rates were 100% in the printed group and 78.6% in the conventional group. Both groups showed a significant increase in maximum biting force (MBF) at 3, 6, and 12 months of follow-up (P<0.001). The printed group demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in MBF compared to the conventional group (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: 3D-printed mandibular single-implant overdentures may represent an alternative to conventionally fabricated ones.