Automatic diagnosis system of tooth mobility for clinical use

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Periodontology
• Dental Diagnostics

Background:

• Tooth mobility assessment is crucial for diagnosing periodontal disease.
• Existing methods for evaluating tooth mobility can be subjective or lack quantitative data.
• Objective biomechanical parameters of the periodontium are needed for precise diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an automatic diagnosis system for quantitative evaluation of tooth mobility.
• To measure tooth mobility using objective biomechanical parameters like stiffness and damping coefficients.
• To assess the system's reliability and operational facility for daily clinical practice.

Main Methods:

• Developed an automatic system comprising a probe (vibrator, acceleration transducers) and a personal computer-based data analysis unit.
• Determined tooth mobility from periodontal vibration characteristics.
• Expressed mobility using biomechanical parameters (stiffness, damping coefficients) displayed as a triangular figure.
• Enabled dentists to measure mobility independently using a foot-switch.

Main Results:

• The system reliably quantifies tooth mobility using objective biomechanical parameters.
• Data from healthy and pathological teeth were collected and analyzed.
• The system successfully measured tooth mobility and parameter changes over time, including post-implantation.

Conclusions:

• The developed automatic diagnosis system is reliable and operationally suitable for clinical use.
• It provides objective biomechanical data for evaluating tooth mobility and periodontal health.
• The system offers advantages over previous methods for quantitative tooth mobility assessment.