Academic Journal
The impact of surface dimensions on the accuracy of an intraoral scanner.
| Title: | The impact of surface dimensions on the accuracy of an intraoral scanner. |
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| Authors: | Chotaliya S; King's College London, Floor 17 Guy's Hospital, Great Maze Pond, London Bridge, London SE1 9RT, UK. Electronic address: K2257951@kcl.ac.uk., O'Toole S; King's College London, Prosthodontics, Floor 25 Tower Wing, Guy's Hospital, King's College London, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 9RT, UK. Electronic address: saoirse.otoole@kcl.ac.uk., Austin RS; King's College London, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, Guy's Hospital, London Bridge, London SE1 9RT, UK. Electronic address: rupert.s.austin@kcl.ac.uk., Bull T; Mechatronics Research Group, Engineering and the Environment, Mechanical Engineering Department School of Engineering Building 5 (Eustice) University of Southampton Highfield Campus, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ, UK. Electronic address: T.G.Bull@soton.ac.uk., Bartlett D; Kings College London Dental Institute, Prosthodontics, Guy's tower, London Bridge, London SE1 9RT, UK. |
| Source: | Journal of dentistry [J Dent] 2026 Jul; Vol. 170, pp. 106669. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Apr 02. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article; Comparative Study |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0354422 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-176X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03005712 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Dent Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Kidlington : Elsevier Original Publication: Bristol, Eng., Wright. |
| MeSH Terms: | Image Processing, Computer-Assisted*/methods , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted*/statistics & numerical data , Tooth, Artificial*, Surface Properties ; Algorithms ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Reproducibility of Results ; Computer-Aided Design |
| Abstract: | Objectives: Intra-oral scanners are being used to measure small changes to the surface form. This study aimed to identify the limits of detection of an intra-oral scanner (IOS) on depth and width of surface form. Methods: We performed investigations on artificial teeth with increasing width and depth of discrete surface features captured by an intra-oral scanner at baseline and compared the data to a gold-standard white-light profilometer (WLP). 81 surface features with widths varying between 150 - 1300 µm and depths 5 - 360 µm were scanned five times using the WLP (n = 405) and IOS (n = 405) and analysed using a validated registration and subtraction algorithm. Both scan outputs used reference and an iterative closest point (ICP) registration to the Z-axis to analyse change and control variation of data. 2D maximum step height depth (µm) and 2D width (µm) of the surface features were calculated. Results: The depth measurement error of the IOS had a negative linear association to width (Pearson correlation = - 0.87 (95 % CI - 0.90, - 0.82 p < 0.001 and r2 = 0.76). The error of depth measurement was 100 % at 250 µm, 20 % at 750 µm and 0 % at 1200 µm. Overall, the IOS overestimated surface feature width by 155.5 µm and underestimated surface feature depth by -20.2 µm. Conclusion: The accuracy of the IOS to capture surface features improved above 750 µm in width and was close to 100 % accuracy at 1200 µm. Caution is needed if an IOS is used to measure surface features below 1200 µm in width. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. SO'T is an Editorial Board Member of Journal of Dentistry. Given her role in Journal of Dentistry, SO'T had no involvement in the peer review of this article and has no access to information regarding its peer review. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Dental materials; Image processing/ computer-assisted; Intra-oral scanner; Profilometer; Surface topographical change |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260405 Date Completed: 20260714 Latest Revision: 20260714 |
| Update Code: | 20260715 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jdent.2026.106669 |
| PMID: | 41935820 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
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