Evaluation of sagittal condylar guidance angles using computerized pantographic tracings, protrusive interocclusal...

The goal of registering the condylar guidance is to recreate the patient's occlusion as exactly as possible on the articulator, and is therefore essential for successful prosthodontic rehabilitation. Clinical, radiographic, and pantographic methods are used to determine sagittal condylar guidance angles (SCGAs). These methods generate different angles in the same patients. The present study is the first disquisition to evaluate and correlate SCGAs determined by the use of pantographic tracing (PT), protrusive records (PR), and radiographic (CBCT) techniques.

The condylar guidance was measured using PT, PR, and CBCT imaging techniques in 23 nonpatient participants aged between 18 and 30 years irrespective of sex. PT was recorded using Cadiax® Compact system, a computerized recorder of SCGAs. PR was obtained using polyvinyl siloxane bite registration material, transferred to a semiadjustable articulator (Denar Mark II, Whip Mix Corp., USA) using facebow transfer (Denar Mark II, Whip Mix Corp., USA) and CR records, to determine SCGAs. Images of the mid-facial region were obtained using CBCT scan for 3D reconstruction. The angle formed between Frankfort horizontal plane (FHP) and a line extending from the most supero-anterior point on the glenoid fossa to the most convex point on the apex of articular eminence (AE) was measured to obtain SCGAs.

The mean left and right SCGAs were as follows: PT (34.42° and 33.93°, respectively), PR (32.14° and 31.82°), and CBCT (38.96° and 38.12°). The Pearson coefficients for the correlations with PT and PR on the left and right sides were 0.899 and 0.907, respectively, while it was 0.911 and 0.934, and 0.842 and 0.874 from PT and CBCT, and PR and CBCT, respectively.

Strong correlations were found between SCGAs obtained using PT, PR, and CBCT techniques.