A comparative study to measure the sagittal condylar inclination using mechanical articulator, virtual articulator...

To compare the sagittal condylar inclination (SCI) in dentate individuals measured by the different methods with mechanical articulator (MA), virtual articulator (VA), and a jaw tracking device (JTD) system.

A total of 22 healthy dentate participants were enrolled in this study. For MA workflow, the SCI was obtained by a semi-adjustable articulator with protrusive interocclusal records. The SCI was also set on a VA by aligning intraoral scan (IOS) with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and facial scan (FS), respectively. These virtual workflows were conducted in a dental design software, namely VA_IOS-CBCT and VA_IOS-FS. Meanwhile, a JTD system was also utilized to perform the measurement. Intraclass correlation was used to assess the repeatability within workflows. The bilateral SCI values were compared by Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test for each workflow, and Kruskal-Wallis test and post hoc p-value Bonferroni correction were used to compare the differences among four workflows. The agreement of VA_IOS-CBCT, VA_IOS-FS, and JTD compared with MA was evaluated by Bland-Altman analysis.

Intraclass correlation of the SCI revealed a high degree of repeatability for each workflow. There were no significant differences between the left and right sides (P > .05), except for VA_IOS-CBCT (P = .028). Significant differences were not found between MA and VA_IOS-FS (P > .05). Bland-Altman plots indicated VA_IOS-CBCT, VA_IOS-FS, and JTD were considered to substitute MA with high 95% limits of agreement.

The workflow of VA_IOS-FS provided an alternative approach to measure the SCI compared with MA.