Effects of Three‐Dimensional Print Offsets of Sleeves on Implant Placement Trueness: An In Vitro Study

INTRODUCTION: This study assesses the effects of different three-dimensional (3D) print offsets of sleeves on sleeve and implant placement trueness in guided implant surgery. METHODS: Twenty-five sleeves were installed on 3D-printed surgical guides, with sleeve offsets of 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.10 mm (five groups with five sleeves per group). The actual surgical guides were scanned to generate digital files, which were compared with the reference group based on design positions. The experimental verification and evaluation method involves assessing sleeve installations and measuring the deviations between the actual position of the sleeve and implant compared with the reference group. RESULTS: The sleeve installations in the 0.02-mm offset group were not acceptable, as there were visible cracks in the sleeve; in the case of the 0.04-mm offset group, there were also installation difficulties. At the sleeve position level, there were larger deviations in the 0.10-mm offset group, whereas the 0.08-mm group had smaller deviations in the labial and palatal directions (p < 0.05). At the implant level, the 0.10-mm offset group showed a significantly larger deviation (labial: 0.453 ± 0.165 mm; palatal: 0.399 ± 0.160 mm; p < 0.05). As for the mesial-distal direction, there were no significant differences between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Print offsets of sleeves had a significant effect on the ease of installation and the placement accuracy of sleeves and implants. Under the printer and sleeves conditions used in this experiment, smaller offsets (0.02 and 0.04 mm) caused installation difficulties and misalignments. Larger offsets (0.10 mm) created noticeable deviations. Sleeve offsets of 0.06 and 0.08 mm provided a balance between ease of installation and high placement trueness, making them more suitable in this experiment. Excessive or insufficient print offsets of sleeves can affect installation conditions and positional trueness of sleeves and implants.