Abstract :
This study aimed to evaluate a method for manufacture of custom trays for edentulous jaws using computer aided design and three-dimensional printer technologies. A digital method for design the custom trays for edentulous jaws was established. The tissue surface data of ten standard maxillary edentulous plaster models, which was used to design the digital custom tray in a reverse engineering software, were obtained using a 3D scanner. The designed tray was printed by a 3D FDM printing device. Another ten hand-made custom trays were produced as control. The 3-dimentional surface data of impression and custom trays was scanned to evaluate the accuracy of the impression material thickness while the difference between digitally made trays and hand-made trays were analyzed. The results showed that impressions from 3D printed custom trays had better thickness distribution than that of hand-made ones. With 3D scanning, CAD and 3D Printing technology, an efficient method of custom tray production was established, which achieved a high reproducibility and accuracy.
