Assessment of articulation parameters settings repeatability in Avantis 3D software

BACKGROUND: The three-dimensional (3D) space of a virtual articulator requires precise adjustment considering individual parameters for the precision work of orthopedic dentists, orthodontists, and dental technicians. A modern solution that includes a virtual articulator is the domestic Avantis 3D software, which simplifies and speeds up functional diagnostics by creating a 3D scene of the patient.

AIM: To compare a repeatability of articulation parameters obtained when adjusting the domestic virtual articulator Avantis 3D using laboratory and intraoral scans of terminal positions of the lower jaw.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of 30 volunteers aged 18–35 years participated in this study. The group consisted of 18 women and 12 men. Each participant underwent a computed tomography of the maxillofacial region, including the temporomandibular joint region in a state of habitual occlusion; one-stage A-silicone impressions were obtained, plaster models were cast, and silicone bite registers of three terminal positions were made. An intraoral scan of the upper and lower jaws was performed, and optical bite scans were obtained in the position of maximum fissure-tubercle contact and in the terminal positions of the lower jaw, fixed by previously obtained silicone registers. The same protocol was conducted for plaster models of the patient’s dentition and silicone registers of terminal positions. Using intraoral scans, optical recorders of terminal positions and computer tomograms in the Avantis 3D program and 3D scenes were created, and a virtual articulator was configured.

For each patient, the virtual articulator was adjusted in the Avantis 3D software, seven times using data from the intraoral scanner level and seven times from the laboratory level.

The reproducibility of articulatory parameters was assessed for all types of scans obtained, examining the standard and individual intercondylar distances for each patient.

RESULTS: The average values of the standard square deviation of articulatory parameters obtained when creating 3D scenes using laboratory scans at individual and standard intercondylar distances were higher than the similar values obtained using intraoral scans.

CONCLUSION: The accuracy of creating a virtual copy of a patient can be influenced by several factors: the error in combining scans, repeated scanning, the error in combining scans and computer tomograms, the error in combining jaw and bite scans, and the presence of penetrating occlusal contacts between scans of the dentition.