Development of occlusal canting identifying tool: verification, reliability and validation assessment

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Orthodontics
• Dental Technology

Background:

• Accurate clinical assessment methods for occlusal cant (OC), a malocclusion trait, are lacking.
• The occlusal canting identifying tool (OCIT) was developed to address this gap by providing precise quantification of maxillary OC.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a prototype of the OCIT.
• To verify the functionality of the OCIT.
• To assess the validity and reliability of the OCIT for clinical use.

Main Methods:

• A prototype of the OCIT was developed and refined.
• Verification involved assessing the accuracy of the bubble level and angle measurements.
• Laboratory validation included 40 orthodontists measuring simulated OC on phantom heads, with reliability assessed over three occasions.

Main Results:

• The OCIT prototype demonstrated clinically insignificant accuracy errors in verification.
• Validation showed high validity, with no significant difference from reference values, though minor errors occurred with smaller OC degrees.
• Reliability assessments indicated the OCIT is highly reliable.

Conclusions:

• The OCIT has been successfully verified as a functional tool.
• The OCIT is a valid and reliable clinical instrument for accurate occlusal cant assessment.