Effects of Implant Angulation, Material Selection, and Impression Technique on Impression Accuracy: A Preliminary Laboratory Study

The aim of this preliminary laboratory study was to evaluate the effects of 5- and 25-degree implant angulations in simulated clinical casts on an impression's accuracy when using different impression materials and tray selections. A convenience sample of each implant angulation group was selected for both open and closed trays in combination with one polyether and two polyvinyl siloxane impression materials. The influence of material and technique appeared to be significant for both 5- and 25-degree angulations (P .05), and increased angulation tended to decrease impression accuracy. The open-tray technique was more accurate with highly nonaxially oriented implants for the small sample size investigated.