Accuracy of a chairside fused deposition modeling 3D-printed single-tooth surgical template for implant placement: An in vitro comparison with a light cured template

Purpose To compare the accuracy of a chairside fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D-printed surgical template with that of a light-cured template for implant placement. Materials and methods Twenty standard mandibular resin models with missing teeth 36 and 46 were selected. Surgical templates were fabricated using a chairside FDM 3D-printer (test group) or a light-curing 3D printer (control group) (n = 20/group). Forty implants were placed by a clinician blinded to group allocation. The angular, 3D, mesiodistal, buccolingual, and apicocoronal deviations at the implant base and tip between preoperative design and postoperative implant position were recorded. Results The mean angular (test vs control groups: 3.22° ± 1.55° vs 2.74° ± 1.24°, p = 0.343) and 3D deviations at the implant base (test vs control groups: 0.41 ± 0.13 mm vs 0.35 ± 0.11 mm, p = 0.127) and tip (test vs control groups: 0.91 ± 0.34 mm vs 0.75 ± 0.28 mm, p = 0.150) were similar. The mesiodistal, buccolingual, and apicocoronal deviations at the implant base and tip also did not differ significantly between groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions For single tooth gap indications, implant placement with an FDM 3D-printed surgical template was as accurate as that with a light-cured template, and more efficient.