Analysis of reliability in 3D mandibular movements measurements

Mandibular movement measures are crucial for assessing and investigating temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). To ease TMD diagnosis and follow-up, simple and objective monitoring methods are required. This study aimed to analyze the reliability of 3D mandibular movement measurements by investigating the intra- and inter-instrument reliability of movements measurements instrumentation asymmetries (Digital vernier caliper, Therabilte scale, and an MPU inertial sensor) in a 30 randomly selected population. Unassisted maximum mouth opening left, and right lateral movements and protrusion of the mandible were measured three times using one instrument for every session. The reliability was tested using the intraclass correlation coefficient ICC. The results were significantly good, and the lowest ICC index was 0.91, which indicates an excellent reproducibility of the measurement techniques that may be used in clinical practice for analysis and diagnosis.