Clinical Study Reveals Accuracy of Virtual Occlusal Scheme in Dental Prosthetics

ISRAEL: In a recent clinical study conducted by researchers from the School of Dental Medicine at Tel Aviv University, the accuracy of virtual interocclusal records in dental prosthetics has been assessed. While virtual occlusal schemes have been studied, this research aims to bridge the gap by comparing them to clinical outcomes.

The primary objective of this clinical study was to evaluate the agreement between a virtual occlusal scheme designed through computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) software and the occlusal scheme obtained clinically for definitive dental prostheses. The assessment was made using articulating paper.

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Research Methodology

The study involved the virtual occlusal scheme design for 20 single monolithic crowns and their adjacent teeth in 17 participants. These virtual registrations were acquired through an intraoral scanning system. They were then compared to conventional occlusal records obtained using articulating paper in two stages: first with 200-μm blue film and then with 12-μm metallic red articulation tape.

The analysis considered both the quantity and quality of the contacts in the conventional occlusal records, often referred to as the standard method. To assess accuracy, the study calculated virtual record sensitivity, which measures the percentage of true positive virtual contacts among actual contacts identified by articulating paper. Additionally, specificity was calculated as the percentage of true negative virtual contacts in comparison to actual clearance sites.

Study Findings

The research revealed several important findings:

• The virtual record sensitivity was 98.5% for the crowns and 95% for the adjacent teeth.
• Virtual record specificity was 88.6% for the crowns and 82.6% for the adjacent teeth.
• Agreement between clinical and virtual contact intensities on the crowns was 83%.
• For adjacent teeth, the agreement was 67.3%.
• The positive predictive value was 72.83%, while the negative predictive value was 100%.

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Conclusions

This clinical study concludes that the intraoral scanning system used in the research provides clinically sufficient sensitivity and specificity for identifying occlusal surface contacts in monolithic crowns. However, there was a slight decrease in the system’s sensitivity and specificity when identifying contacts on adjacent teeth, along with a more significant decrease in identifying the intensity of these contacts.

These findings contribute to our understanding of the reliability of virtual occlusal schemes in dental prosthetics, highlighting their potential for accuracy while acknowledging certain limitations.

The study was authored by Dr. Ameer Biadsee, Dr. Ameen Biadsee, Dr. Ayman Khalifa, Dr. Tarek Mtanis, and Dr. Zeev Ormianer from Tel Aviv University and was published in the journal “Prosthodontic Research.”

Read the paper abstract: Clinical evaluation of the agreement between virtual and clinical occlusal registrations: A comparative clinical study

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