The effect of a prosthetic crown’s design on the accuracy of mapping an abutment teeth’s shape

•3D geometrical assessment of the crowns’ fit.•Clinical properness in mapping the shape of abutment teeth.•Digital procedures in technological applications for dental prosthetics.•Comparison of method of dental crowns manufacturing.

The objective is to carry out an in vitro assessment of tightness of Co–Cr–Mo alloy premolar and molar crowns manufactured with the use of the following technologies: casting, milling and laser melting. In order to compare the fit of crowns to abutments that served as the reference models, the Geomagic Qualify 12 software for structured-light 3D scanning and modelling was used. According to analyses of reports in the form of maps and summaries, all histograms and maps are characterized by low positive and negative values of shape deviations. All employed technologies were found to have a comparable, satisfactory accuracy of mapping the shape both in the area of the stair step and the area of side walls. The results of the studies enable to conclude that the tightness of prosthetic crowns manufactured with the use of the studied technologies is comparable and meets clinical criteria.