Accuracy of photogrammetric technologies for the scanning of dental models: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: Traditional dental scanners require a heavy investment, representing a high barrier of entry into digital dentistry. Photogrammetric-based scanners may represent an affordable cost-effective alternative to traditional dental scanners used for the digitalization of plaster models. Photogrammetry is the science of extracting 3D information from photographs. The process involves taking overlapping photographs of an object or space and converting them into 2D or 3D digital models. Objective: This review aimed to identify and appraise the reported accuracy of photogrammetric-generated digital dental models.
 Materials and methods: A search strategy was applied in 3 databases (Medline, Web of Science and Scopus), from Feb 1 2021 to Dec 1 2021, the search was limited to articles in English published in the last 5 years about studies evaluating the dimensional accuracy of 3-dimensional digital models acquired by the scanning of plaster models with photogrammetric technologies.
 Results: Two independent reviewers screened 75 records on basis of titles and abstracts for assessment against the inclusion criteria for the review, 4 articles were deemed eligible, the risk of bias for the selected articles was measured, data extraction was performed by only one author.
 Conclusion: With today’s technology, based on the four studies evaluated, we conclude that photogrammetric-generated digital models while lacking accuracy for incorporation into the treatment flow, in the future it could be used for diagnostic, planning, and achieving.