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Influence of adhesive point dimension and splint type on splint rigidity--evaluation by the dynamic Periotest method
Florian Franz1, Sergej Potapov, Anselm Petschelt
1Clinic Dr. Petschelt & Colleagues, Lauf a. d. Pegnitz, Germany.
Aim:
To evaluate the influence of adhesive point dimension and splint type on the rigidity of wire-composite splints in vitro.
Materials And Methods:
A custom-made artificial model was used. The two central incisors served as injured teeth (degrees of loosening III and II) and the two lateral incisors as non-injured teeth (physiological mobility). Horizontal and vertical tooth mobilities were investigated before and after splinting with the Periotest(®) method; the percent change was taken as the relative splint effect. Teeth were splinted with three types of wire-composite splints: Dentaflex (0.45 mm), Strengtheners (0.8 × 1.8 mm), and Dentaflex completely covered with composite. Four adhesive point dimensions (2, 3, 4, and 5 mm) were evaluated. Normal distribution was tested with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Differences were evaluated with the anova and post hoc tests for pair-wise comparisons. Significance level was set at 0.05.
Results:
The adhesive point dimension did not influence splint rigidity, in general ( P = 0.288). Significant effects were found in non-injured teeth with the Dentaflex ( P < 0.001) and in injured teeth with the Strengtheners ( P < 0.001). The Strengtheners splint rigidity increased significantly with increasing adhesive point dimensions. The three splints showed significantly different effects at 5-mm adhesive point dimension ( P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
Splint rigidity for injured teeth was influenced by adhesive point dimension only when splinting with Strengtheners. We recommend adapting splint rigidity by selecting different wires and reducing the adhesive point dimension to a minimum. Dentaflex can be used for flexible splinting, Strengtheners, and composite covered Dentaflex for rigid splinting.
