Accuracy of digital technologies for the scanning of facial, skeletal, and intraoral tissues: A systematic review

Statement of problem The accuracy of the virtual images used in digital dentistry is essential to the success of oral rehabilitation. Purpose The purpose of this systematic review was to estimate the mean accuracy of digital technologies used to scan facial, skeletal, and intraoral tissues. Material and methods A search strategy was applied in 4 databases and in the non–peer-reviewed literature from April through June 2017 and was updated in July 2017. Studies evaluating the dimensional accuracy of 3-dimensional images acquired by the scanning of hard and soft tissues were included. Results A total of 2093 studies were identified by the search strategy, of which 183 were initially screened for full-text reading and 34 were considered eligible for this review. The scanning of facial tissues showed deviation values ranging between 140 and 1330 μm, whereas the 3D reconstruction of the jaw bone ranged between 106 and 760 μm. The scanning of a dentate arch by intraoral and laboratorial scanners varied from 17 μm to 378 μm. For edentulous arches, the scanners showed a trueness ranging between 44.1 and 591 μm and between 19.32 and 112 μm for dental implant digital scanning. Conclusions The current digital technologies are reported to be accurate for specific applications. However, the scanning of edentulous arches still represents a challenge.