Effect of Glove‐Based Color Filtering in Intraoral Scanners on the Interdental Space Reproduction Threshold Before and After Postprocessing Procedures

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of space blockage by colored gloved fingers and color-filtering on space reproduction of 2 intraoral scanners (IOSs) for adjacent veneer preparations, before and after postprocessing. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Veneer preparations were performed on two extracted teeth. Two IOSs were tested: i700 and i900. Five groups were created (from 0.1 to 0.5 mm) with four subgroups based on the glove color: none, pink, blue, and black. Specimens were assessed before and after postprocessing: no error, partial error (< 25% or 25%-50%), or complete error (> 50%). Fisher's test was used (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Neither IOS reproduced the 0.1- or 0.2-mm spaces before or after postprocessing, whereas both reproduced the 0.3-mm space after postprocessing, except in the black-gloved subgroup. Differences were observed in the 0.3-, 0.4-, and 0.5-mm groups before and after postprocessing. Before postprocessing, the i700 reproduced 0.3- and 0.4-mm spaces in the pink and blue subgroups and 0.5-mm spaces in the none, pink, and blue subgroups; the i900 reproduced 0.3-mm spaces in the none and blue subgroups and 0.4- and 0.5-mm spaces in the none, pink, and blue subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Space reproduction threshold was 0.3 mm for both IOSs. Glove-based color filters did not enhance space reproduction. In the i700, the black-glove filter negatively affected 0.5-mm space reproduction after postprocessing.