Management of dental trauma: development of a 2D data acquisition system to evaluate passivity of dental splints

Management of dental trauma in children sometimes requires the use of dental splints, which can be constructed from orthodontic materials. Past studies of the mechanical properties of dental splints have only been interested in their flexibility and not passivity. The purpose of this study is to determine the passivity of splints constructed from orthodontic materials. A specific data acquisition system, with a 2D transducer, is developed for evaluation of its neutrality. The transducer detects the displacements of the splinted tooth generated by the splint. The splints are constructed with 0.406 mm round, straight or Arch Blank preformed stainless-steel wires, with 0.559 mm standard edgewise brackets and with 0.254 mm stainless-steel or 3.05 mm elastomeric ligatures. Results show that mean output voltages generated by the splints range from 1.13 V to 2.48 V. The best control of passivity is obtained with the splints constructed with a preformed archwire and with elastomeric ligatures (p < 0.05), and the worst control is obtained with those constructed with a straight wire and with stainless-steel ligatures (p < 0.05).