Evaluation of tightness of proximal tooth contact in permanent dentition

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Proximal contact plays an important role in the stability and maintenance of the integrity of the dental arches. However, it is difficult to evaluate quantitatively the tightness of proximal tooth contact (TPTC). PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to measure the TPTC in permanent dentition. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten young adult volunteers with healthy dentition participated in this experiment. The TPTC between the teeth of both the maxilla and the mandible was measured at rest state by a novel device which records the TPTC by pulling of a stainless steel strip (0.03 mm thick) using the electric motor. One-way ANOVA test was used to compare the values in all measured area. When a statistically significant difference was calculated, Bonferroni correction was applied. Independent samples t-test was used to compare the values in male and female. RESULTS: The lowest TPTC and the highest TPTC was measured between the lower central incisors (0.87 ± 0.20 N), and between the lower left first molar and second molar (1.99 ± 0.68 N), respectively. All TPTC per quadrant demonstrated a similar pattern of a continuous increased gradient in an anterior-posterior direction. There are no significant difference between the maxilla and mandible. CONCLUSION: The TPTC was measured quantitatively by a novel device and decreased progressively in a posterior-anterior direction. KCI Citation Count: 1