Since dental implants are not anchored to bone with periodontal ligament, subjective evaluation of occlusion is not always reliable enough to guard against the presence of occlusal prematurities. Despite the introduction of the T-scan occlusal analyzer technology, the majority of the clinicians and dental colleges are still depending, to a great extent, on the traditional occlusion indicator materials for implant-prosthetic occlusion establishment. This study was performed to verify whether the use of the articulating paper to calibrate the occlusal contacts of prosthetic restorations is successful enough to fulfill the objectives of a balancing implant-prosthetic occlusion.
Materials and Methods: 40 subjects [30 females and 10 males] were selected from the out patient clinic of the Department of Prosthetic Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh. All subjects have received implant restorations where the occlusion of all cases was analyzed solely by the articulating paper. Computerized occlusal analysis was conducted using the T-Scan system III (software version 8.1). Center of force (COF), implant force percentage (IF %), occlusion time (OT), disclusion time (DT), and excursive positions were evaluated for the implants and the adjacent natural teeth. Data were collected, tabulated, and presented as frequencies and percentages. Results: 25% of the treated implant cases were reported to have optimum implant occlusion time (OT < 0.6s) and to have received implant force percentage (IF%) less than the adjacent natural teeth. Moreover, 5 implants (12.5%) were out of occlusion.
Conclusion: The use of the articulating paper is not an accurate enough method to employ in the implant occlusion adjustment, while the use of the T-Scan occlusal analyzer as a quantifying, non-subjective occlusal indicator may produce more comprehensive and evidence-based results.