3D Facial Scanning in Full-Arch Implant Prosthodontics: Time Efficiency and Patient Satisfaction
August 5, 2026 updated by: Lamiaa Farouk, Ain Shams University
Effect of Integrating 3D Facial Scanning in Full-Arch Implant Prosthetics: Time Efficiency and Patient Satisfaction
This study compares two ways of planning the bite (jaw-relation) stage of full-arch, implant-supported dental prosthesis treatment: a standard digital approach, and the same approach with the addition of 3D facial scanning, which lets the dental team plan the new teeth against a scan of the patient's own face.
The study measured how patients felt about their treatment using a validated questionnaire, and also tracked how many clinic visits and adjustments each approach needed.
Twenty-two patients took part, randomly assigned to one of the two approaches.
Study Overview
Status
Completed
Detailed Description
Full-arch implant-supported prosthetic rehabilitation requires accurate jaw-relation recording, which determines both the functional relationship between the arches and the esthetic integration of the final prosthesis within the patient's face.
Conventional digital workflows rely on intraoral scanning and wax-rim jaw-relation techniques without reference to extraoral facial anatomy.
This prospective, randomized, single-center pilot trial compared a conventional-digital hybrid workflow (Group A) with an enhanced digital workflow incorporating 3D facial scanning (Group B) in patients undergoing full-arch, implant-supported maxillary prosthetic rehabilitation (All-on-6 configuration).
All patients received six implants placed using a fully guided surgical protocol with a stackable surgical guide, followed by an immediately loaded PMMA provisional prosthesis during a three-month osseointegration period.
Following healing, patients were randomly allocated (computer-generated sequence, allocation concealed by an independent third party) to Group A or Group B for the prosthetic (jaw-relation recording) phase.
In Group B, 3D facial scanning was merged with intraoral scans and CBCT data to guide prosthetic design against facial reference planes.
The primary outcome was patient-reported oral health-related quality of life, measured using the validated short-form Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire, administered after four weeks of intraoral trial wear of the try-in prosthesis (T1) and again four weeks after delivery of the definitive prosthesis (T2).
Secondary outcomes included the number of clinical appointments and chairside adjustments required to complete the prosthetic phase, and implant/prosthesis survival at six months.
The definitive prosthesis in both groups consisted of a milled cobalt-chromium framework with layered zirconia, with a mutually protected occlusal scheme.
Outcome assessment (clinical/technical evaluation and statistical analysis) was blinded; blinding of patients and the treating clinician was not feasible given the visibly different nature of the two workflows.
Study Type
Interventional
Enrollment (Actual)
22
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.
Study Locations
-
-
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Cairo, Egypt
- Oral and Maxillofacial Prosthodontics Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University
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-
Participation Criteria
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
- Adult
- Older Adult
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Adults (≥18 years) indicated for full-arch maxillary implant-supported fixed prosthetic rehabilitation
- Completion of the surgical phase with stable implant osseointegration
- Presence of healthy peri-implant soft tissues
- Adequate oral hygiene status
- Sufficient bone and soft-tissue conditions compatible with full-arch prosthetic rehabilitation
- Ability to comply with all scheduled follow-up visits
- Capacity to maintain natural head position during facial scanning procedures
- Absence of significant gag reflex interfering with scanning/impression procedures
- Ability to communicate effectively and complete questionnaires
- Provision of written informed consent
- Physically and psychologically fit for the planned treatment
Exclusion Criteria:
- Severe skeletal or orthognathic discrepancies
- History of significant facial trauma or surgery affecting facial symmetry
- Prior maxillofacial pathology affecting the surgical/prosthetic site
- Uncontrolled systemic diseases affecting healing or treatment tolerance
- Use of medications that alter osseointegration or facial soft tissues
- Active oral or peri-implant infection
- Neuromuscular disorders or temporomandibular joint dysfunction affecting jaw positioning
- Conditions affecting the ability to maintain stable head position for scanning
- Severe psychomotor limitations
- Known hypersensitivity to materials used in bite registration or prosthesis fabrication
- Inability or unwillingness to provide informed consent
- Pregnancy or lactation, if deemed a contraindication by the supervising clinician
- Poor compliance or demonstrated unreliability in past dental or medical care
Study Plan
This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Treatment
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Single
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
|
Active Comparator: Conventional-Digital Hybrid Workflow
aw-relation recording using intraoral digital scanning, digitally fabricated bite blocks, and a traditional wax-rim jaw-relation technique with facebow transfer and mechanical articulator mounting, without facial scanning.
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Jaw-relation recording using intraoral digital scanning, digitally fabricated bite blocks, and a traditional wax-rim jaw-relation technique with facebow transfer and mechanical articulator mounting, w
|
|
Experimental: Enhanced Digital Workflow with 3D Facial Scanning
Same base digital workflow as Group A, with the addition of high-resolution 3D facial scanning (Shining 3D structured-light scanner), merged with intraoral scans and CBCT data via Exocad software to guide prosthetic alignment against extraoral facial landmarks.
|
Integration of 3D facial scanning into the jaw-relation recording stage of full-arch implant prosthetic rehabilitation, merging facial, intraoral, and CBCT datasets to guide prosthetic design against facial reference planes.
Performed in addition to the same base digital workflow described in Intervention 1.
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Total Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) Score at Trial-Wear Timepoint
Time Frame: 4 weeks
|
Patient-reported oral health-related quality of life, 14 items across 7 domains, scored 0-56 (higher = worse).
Assessed after the patient had worn the try-in (trial) prosthesis intraorally for four weeks (T1).
|
4 weeks
|
|
Total Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) Score at Post-Delivery Timepoint
Time Frame: 4 weeks
|
Patient-reported oral health-related quality of life, 14 items across 7 domains, scored 0-56 (higher = worse).
Assessed four weeks after delivery of the definitive prosthesis (T2).
|
4 weeks
|
Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Number of Clinical Appointments to Complete the Prosthetic Phase
Time Frame: up to 12 weeks
|
Total number of clinic visits from jaw-relation registration through prosthesis delivery.
|
up to 12 weeks
|
|
Number of Try-In Adjustments
Time Frame: up to 8 weeks
|
Number of chairside occlusal corrections (selective grinding, material addition, or jaw-relation re-verification) required at try-in before definitive fabrication.
|
up to 8 weeks
|
|
Implant and Prosthesis Survival / Complications at 6 Months
Time Frame: 6 months post-delivery
|
Clinical review for implant failure, prosthesis fracture, or other mechanical/biological complications.
|
6 months post-delivery
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Collaborators and Investigators
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
Sponsor
Study record dates
These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Actual)
October 31, 2024
Primary Completion (Actual)
September 1, 2025
Study Completion (Actual)
July 25, 2026
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
August 1, 2026
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
August 5, 2026
First Posted (Actual)
August 7, 2026
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
August 7, 2026
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
August 5, 2026
Last Verified
August 1, 2026
More Information
Terms related to this study
Keywords
Other Study ID Numbers
- FDASU-Rec IR/M102515
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
NO
IPD Plan Description
Individual participant data will not be shared.
The original informed consent obtained from participants covered their participation in this study but did not include provisions for the public sharing of individual-level, de-identified data with third parties or external researchers.
In addition, given the small sample size (n = 11 per group) within a single department, there is a meaningful risk that even de-identified individual-level data could be re-identified.
No data-sharing repository or access infrastructure has been established for this dataset.
Aggregate, de-identified results are reported in the published thesis and any resulting publications.
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
No
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