A Surface Treatment Technique for Interim Crown Fabricated by Three-Dimensional Printing with Digital Light-Processing Technology

Purpose: The technique introduced in this study describes a technique for surface treatment that applies a photocuring resin to the surface of an interim crown fabricated by three-dimensional (3D) printing without a conventional polishing method. The purpose of this study was to evaluate marginal and internal fit and the intaglio surface trueness of interim crowns after surface treatment of 3D-printed crowns for clinical application. Materials and Methods: An interim crown was fabricated using a 3D printer with digital light-processing technology, and the surface support was removed. After the posttreatment process, the resin was thinly applied to the surface of the interim crown and polymerized to solve the esthetic problem of the surface without the conventional polishing process. In addition, the marginal and internal fits were measured to verify the clinical use of this technique, and the trueness was evaluated to confirm the deformation of the inner surface according to the technical application of the outer surface of the interim crown. The difference before and after the evaluation by a statistical method was verified using an independent t-test (α=0.05). Result: There was no significant difference in the marginal and internal fit before and after the application of this technique (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in intaglio surface trueness before and after the application of this technique (P=0.963). Conclusion: There was no change in the marginal and internal fit or in intaglio surface trueness of the interim crowns to which this technology was applied. This surface treatment technique is a more convenient method for interim crowns fabricated using 3D-printing technology without the conventional polishing process.