A comparative study based on the mandibular movement track and the movement parameters of the virtual articulator in simulating occlusal adjustment.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effects of virtual adjustment on occlusal interferences in mandibular posterior single crown and three-unit bridge restorations by using the mandibular movement track and the movement parameters of a virtual articulator.

Methods: Twenty-two participants were recruited. Digital casts of the maxillary and mandibular arches were obtained using an intraoral scanner, and the jaw registration system was used to record the data of the mandibular movement track and the movement parameters of the articulator. Four kinds of restorations with 0.3 mm occlusal interferences were designed with dental design software. In particular, single crowns were designed for teeth 44 and 46, whereas three-unit bridges were designed for teeth 44-46 and 45-47, and the corresponding natural teeth were virtually extracted. Virtual adjustment of the restorations was performed using two dynamic occlusal recordings, namely, the mandibular movement track and the movement parameters of the virtual articulator. A reverse-engineering software was used to measure the root-mean-square of the three-dimensional deviation of the occlusal surfaces between natural teeth and the adjusted restorations. The differences between the two methods of virtual-occlusion adjustment were compared and analyzed.

Results: For the same group of restorations, the three-dimensional deviation of the mandibular movement track group were lower than those of the virtual articulator group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). For the four groups of restorations adjusted by the same method, the three-dimensional deviation of the 46-tooth single crown was the largest and the smallest three-dimensional deviation was that of the 44-tooth single crown. Statistical differences existed between the 44-tooth single crown and the other groups (P<0.05).

Conclusions: For the occlusal design of posterior single crown and three-unit bridge, the mandibular movement track could be a more effective approach to virtual occlusal adjustment than the movement parameters of the virtual articulator.