This study evaluated the reproducibility of the three-dimensional implant positions obtained using a wireless intraoral scanner compared to the silicone impression method under varying scanning conditions of scanbodies.

To fabricate a master model, six implants were placed at positions corresponding to 47, 44, 42, 32, 34, and 37 of the plaster models of the edentulous mandible. Master data were subsequently acquired using a dental laboratory scanner under six different conditions, with one to six scanbodies attached. For the optical impression method, one to six scanbodies were attached to the implants of the master model and scanned using a wireless intraoral scanner (SIRIOS, Straumann) in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines, resulting in six sets of data. For the silicone impression method, working models were fabricated by taking one to six impressions of the master model implants, generating six sets of data. The master data, intraoral scanner data, and data obtained using the silicone impression method were superimposed using software to calculate the concordance rate of the scanbodies, which were subsequently color-mapped.

The reproducibility of implant positions obtained using the optical impression method with a wireless intraoral scanner and the silicone impression method decreased as the number of implants increased. On the other hand, it was suggested that the reproducibility of implant positions achieved with a wireless intraoral scanner was comparable to that of the silicone impression method when one, two, five, or six implants were present.