Abstract
The final goal of this study was to develop a clinical procedure to accurately examine occlusal facets caused by sleep bruxism and to objectively assess their severity. A two-layered occlusal splint with soft surfaces and an occlusal guidance, adjusted for a full-balanced occlusion, was developed. A quantitative measurement system was constructed for evaluating wear facets on the surface of the splint, which consisted of the two-layered occlusal splint and a 3D dental scanner. The occlusal splint was scanned, before and after wear, using the 3D dental scanner. The scanned datasets were objectively compared to analyze the location and direction of the wear facets and the surface loss of the splint. Accuracy verification, using gauge blocks, revealed that the relative error was less than 2.0 % and no significant measurement-error differences. There were significant differences in the registration error among registration datasets. The digital imaging technique employed has the potential to detect more than 0.05 mm thickness changes of occlusal surface. After two bruxers (45-year female and 77-year male) wore the occlusal splint for 14 days during sleep, the wear facets on the surface of splint could be detected. The result of the study shows that this system has the potential to objectively evaluate the distance, area, volume, and direction of the surface change of the splint after short-term use.
