New findings indicate that utilizing tilting stereolithography and the manufacturing trinomial strategy to additively fabricate ultrathin laminate veneers may allow physicians to make fewer clinical adjustments.
Laminate veneers owe their high success rate to material- and fabrication-related factors such as preparation design, fabrication technique, material type and thickness, adhesive system, occlusal contacts, and parafunctional habits.
However, developing ultrathin laminate veneers can come with errors and often relies on technique and operator experience. As a result, the computer-aided manufacturing technology involved in the subtractive manufacturing of these types of veneers can be inefficient, leading to challenges in achieving fabrication trueness and fit. Although additive manufacturing can limit material waste, the technique comes with high costs and complicated postprocessing steps when utilizing ceramics to create the veneers.
In a recent study published in the Journal of Dentistry, researchers examined the influence of a manufacturing trinomial—comprising manufacturing technology, a three-dimensional printer, and material—along with restoration thickness on the fabrication trueness, fit, and margin quality of resin-based ultrathin laminate veneers. Reseachers compared additively and subtractively manufactured veneers designed from scans of identical maxillary central incisor typodonts.
Münir Demirel, of the Department of Prosthodontics in the Faculty of Dentistry at Biruni University in Istanbul, Türkiye, and colleagues, used tilting stereolithography or a digital light processing printer to additively manufacture the veneers with resins. Tilting stereolithography facilitated a more continuous resin flow, which shortened printing time and enabled using higher-viscosity resins. The researchers then assessed the veneers’ fabrication trueness and fit digitally and margin quality via visual examination.
They found that the manufacturing trinomial’s interaction with the main factors modulated the fabrication trueness and fit, whereas restoration thickness affected the fit. For instance, the tilting stereolithography manufacturing technology demonstrated the greatest trueness, with the lowest deviations and gaps. However, all of the veneers included in the study were found to have a clinically acceptable fit, exhibited slightly rough margins, and showed minimal defects.
"These findings should be validated through other internal fit assessment methods, and further studies are required to explore the broader applicability of the triple-scan protocol for LVs [laminate veneers]," Demirel noted.
The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.
