Accuracy testing of a new intraoral 3D camera.

Surveying intraoral structures by optical means has reached the stage where it is being discussed as a serious clinical alternative to conventional impression taking. Ease of handling and, more importantly, accuracy are important criteria for the clinical suitability of these systems. This article presents a new intraoral camera for the Cerec procedure. It reports on a study investigating the accuracy of this camera and its potential clinical indications. Single-tooth and quadrant images were taken with the camera and the results compared to those obtained with a reference scanner and with the previous 3D camera model. Differences were analyzed by superimposing the data records. Accuracy was higher with the new camera than with the previous model, reaching up to 19 microm in single-tooth images. Quadrant images can also be taken with sufficient accuracy (ca 35 microm) and are simple to perform in clinical practice, thanks to built-in shake detection in automatic capture mode.