In vivo evaluation of T-Scan in quantifying occlusal contact.

Abstract

The T-scan system has been used previously to analyse occlusion, but the quantitative analysis of occlusal contact by T-Scan system has yet to be reported. To evaluate the reliability and validity of T-Scan system for quantitatively measuring occlusal contact area and occlusal contact number. Twenty-two individuals with normal occlusion, 11 men and 11 women, were recruited for the study. Two occlusal analysis methods, including silicone transmission analysis method (STA) and T-Scan occlusion analysis method (TSO), were used to make quantitative analysis to measure occlusal contact area (OCA) and occlusal contact number (OCN). A test-retest check was performed with an interval of 2 weeks. The values of intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) between test-retest of each method were calculated for reliability evaluation. Pearson correlations analysis, paired t-tests, regression analysis and Bland-Altman analysis were performed for validity evaluation. The ICC values of STA were greater than those of TSO for OCA while for OCN, ICC values of TSO were greater than STA. The higher OCA and OCN values were found in TSO compared with STA. Pearson's correlation coefficient indicated strong relations between TSO and STA (0.730-0.812) for OCA, while good relations between then (0.569-0.583) for OCN. Paired t-test showed a significant difference between the OCA and OCN values between TSO and STA. Bland-Altman analysis showed good agreement between OCA and OCN values of TSO and STA both in men and women. Regression analysis identified a linear correlation between OCA values obtained from these two methods. T-Scan method showed strong reliability for measuring OCA and OCN quantitatively. Strong correlations were found between OCA values from TSO and STA method, but the validity of TSO for measuring OCN needs to be promoted. T-Scan system demonstrates good potential in quantitative analysis of occlusion, which will expand its clinical application.