Interimplant distance and angulation measurement from CAD-generated multiunit abutment interfaces: A scan body-independent technique.
TL;DR
A scan body-independent technique for measuring interimplant distances and angulations directly from computer-aided design-generated multiunit abutment bottom components and captures implant spatial data complementary to existing accuracy-evaluation approaches is described.
Abstract
Accurate measurement of interimplant distances and angulations is essential for evaluating implant scanning workflows in implant-supported complete arch fixed dental prostheses. Current methods such as root mean square (RMS) surface deviation and geometric primitive fitting do not capture these relationships directly: RMS lacks implant-specific localization, while geometric fitting remains operator- and geometry-dependent. A scan body-independent technique for measuring interimplant distances and angulations directly from computer-aided design-generated multiunit abutment bottom components is described. An open-source program (DIME: Direct Implant Measurement and Evaluation) was used to extract coordinates and axes from corresponding components and reports per-implant deviations and pairwise interimplant relationships. Demonstration included controlled-displacement validation on a synthetic dataset and application across digital recording workflows with different scan body geometries. By measuring the fitting surface used for framework fabrication, the method captures implant spatial data complementary to existing accuracy-evaluation approaches.