OccluSense: reliability, influencing factors, and limitations.

Area of Science:

• Dental Occlusion
• Diagnostic Technology Evaluation

Background:

• Accurate assessment of static occlusion is crucial for dental restorations.
• Conventional methods like articulating paper and foil are widely used but can be cumbersome.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the reliability of the digital OccluSense device against conventional articulating films for static occlusion assessment.
• To identify limitations and influencing factors of OccluSense in evaluating static occlusion.

Main Methods:

• Experimental study using 20 epoxy resin typodont models with varying occlusal discrepancies.
• Static occlusion assessed in maximum intercuspal position using shimstock foil as a gold standard.
• OccluSense occlusograms compared with 40 μm articulating paper (AP) and 12 μm articulating foil (AF); intrarater reliability assessed using Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ).

Main Results:

• Articulating paper (AP) and foil (AF) demonstrated high reliability (κ=0.94 and κ=0.93, respectively), indicating near-perfect agreement with the gold standard.
• OccluSense showed only fair overall reliability (κ=0.22).
• Reliability varied significantly across malocclusions, with deep bite showing the lowest agreement (κ=0.02, P<0.05).

Conclusions:

• OccluSense exhibits lower reliability for static occlusion assessment compared to traditional articulating paper and foil.
• The device's limitations are particularly pronounced in cases of deep bite.
• OccluSense is not currently suitable as a standalone tool for static occlusion evaluation.