Assessment of occlusal force distribution using T-SCAN pre-operative and post-cementation of full metal crowns fabricated by conventional and direct metal laser sintered (DMLS) technique -A split-mouth randomized clinical study

In patients who have undergone prosthetic rehabilitation with crowns and bridges, the distribution of occlusal forces may not be the same as before. Bite force evaluation helps to understand the mechanics of mastication, muscle activity during mastication, and the influence of physiological factors during the masticatory performance. These forces need to be evaluated and eliminated to achieve harmonious occlusal force distribution to protect the stomatognathic system. The prostheses fabricated by using conventional (lost wax technique) or DMLS technique are clinically acceptable. Comparative studies on the accuracy and precision of DMLS and conventionally fabricated crowns have been done. The studies have shown that a range of 0.4mm–2.8mm occlusal discrepancy is seen and is variable when posterior dental crowns are fabricated by conventional method or by DMLS method. The T-SCAN system records an accurate way of determining and evaluating the time sequence and force magnitude of occlusal contacts by converting qualitative data into quantitative parameters and displaying them digitally.Using this system, multiple corrections of occlusal discrepancies can be performed for every segment of the dentition. Comparative studies have been done to evaluate occlusal discrepancy by conventional methods, but the literature on T scans is sparse. Hence, the present study is undertaken to assess the occlusal force distribution by using T-scan pre-operative and post-cementation of metal crowns fabricated by conventional and DMLS techniques—a split-mouth randomized clinical study.