Different authors have questioned the reliability of the T-Scan system as a method for registering occlusal contacts. The number of tooth contacts resulting from four bites made in maximum intercuspation was analysed with T-Scan using time moment statistics. The results indicate that (1) the largest number of contacts occur in the molar region (2) variability between subjects is greater than variability within subjects, and (3) it is possible to identify the subject being tested in 90-3% of cases.The T-Scan system has proved to be a reliable method for the analysis and evaluation of occlusal contact distribution in maximum intercuspation.

Different authors have questioned the reliability of the T-Scan system as a method for registering occlusal contacts. The number of tooth contacts resulting from four bites made in maximum intercuspation was analysed with T-Scan using time moment statistics. The results indicate that (1) the largest number of contacts occur in the molar region (2) variability between subjects is greater than variability within subjects, and (3) it is possible to identify the subject being tested in 90.3% of cases. The T-Scan system has proved to be a reliable method for the analysis and evaluation of occlusal contact distribution in maximum intercuspation.

Various authors have studied the reproducibility of occlusal contact by means of the T-Scan computerized system and obtained contradictory results. In the present work the value of the T-Scan system as a method for exploring occlusion has been analysed. For this purpose, the same variable, i.e. the number of contacts, was recorded in 31 subjects using the two operation modes enabled by the T-Scan and the respective results were then compared. After an analysis of variance was performed to test the equality of averages of the number of tooth contacts for each patient in the four positions studied (maximum intercuspation, edge to edge protrusion, right laterality and left laterality) in the time and force analysis modes, the results obtained showed that the number of occlusal contacts is significantly different for each patient both in the various mandibular positions and in the force and time analysis modes, being proportionally greater in the latter case.

Views on the reliability of the T-SCAN systems as a method for occlusal contact registration are contradictory. In this paper the tooth contacts of various patients in maximum intercuspation are analysed and their different bites compared using the time analysis mode of the T-SCAN. The findings show that within the same individual, no significant differences exist between the number of contacts on each tooth after four bites were performed in an MI position, except for teeth numbers 46, 44 and 41.

No abstract