COMPARISON OF CONVENTIONAL AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR MAKING THE EAR EPITHESIS

Abstract

Subject. Digital and conventional technologies for the making of ear epitheses. Objectives. To compare different methods of making ear epithesis according to the following criteria: timing, accuracy, ergonomics. Methodology. The study was carried out in Department of Propaedeutics and Prosthetics Technologies in Dentistry of DF, at the Moscow State University of Medial Dentistry named after A.I. Evdokimov. The students – volunteers' auricles were scanned with three different smartphone apps, two intraoral scanners and a facial scanner. Results. The 3D image obtained using a smartphone camera is comparable to models obtained using facial scanners, and the scanning process is simple and does not require special skills. Facial scanners are expensive equipment that require careful maintenance and certain skills for proper operation. Intraoral scanners are not initially designed for the production of facial epitheses; they partially capture the surface of interest, which requires operator intervention, which eliminates the accuracy of the manufactured structure. The conventional method is the least ergonomic, labor-intensive and requires professional competencies and skills in modeling the complex anatomy of epitheses. Conclusion. The most user friendly for making the ear epithesis was smartphone scanning, because in this case required minimal intervention by a operator for finishing the image of 3D copy healthy auricle of the patient.