No abstract

Obtaining bilateral balance of removable complete denture prostheses is the occlusal goal of the restorative dentist or prosthodontist. Despite our best clinical efforts, and the using of advanced mechanical devices like semi-adjustable articulators and face bow transfer mounting of dental casts, it is a struggle to provide accurate occlusal force balance. Some of the advocated reasons for the clinical difficulty of obtaining reliable occlusal balance are that stone casts lack soft tissue resiliency, and articulators only approximate human occlusal functional movements. However, modern technology offers clinicians a digital answer to this clinical force balance problem. It is known as computerized occlusal analysis. The T-Scan III system can be employed with complete removable denture prostheses to perform computer-guided occlusal force-finishing corrective adjustments that measurably improve the installed prosthetic occlusal balance.

Objectives:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of occlusal equilibration using immediate complete anterior guidance development (ICAGD) technique by Kerstein and Farrell on the subjective symptoms of myofascial pain. This technique is the most advanced verifiable and measurable way of digitally analyzing the occlusion using T-scan technology. The primary objective is to reduce the anterior disclusion time to <0.4 s and the secondary objective is to reduce the signs and symptoms of myofascial pain.Materials and Methods:This study is to assess the reducing effects of subjective symptoms of 100 patients diagnosed as myofascial pain patients treated by ICAGD technique as described by Kerstein and Farrell. The common complaints of the patients were a pain in the masseter and temporal muscles, jaw tiredness in the mornings, night bruxing and difficulty in chewing. In this technique occlusal equilibration involves removal of posterior interferences and establish anterior guidance. The patients were treated over three visits 1-week apart and followed for 3 years with an interval of 3 months for the subsequent visits. A visual analog ordinal scale is used to rate the symptoms. The symptoms reduction occurred for all the patients after the first correction in about 5–10 days. In about a period of 3 years review, no recurrence was seen of the chronic myofascial symptoms.Results:In spite of the chronic nature of the patient's symptoms, symptom reduction occurred in a week's time. This was assessed by the results of the ordinal scale values. This agrees with the studies of Kerstein and Farrell.Conclusion:Equilibration of occlusion using digital analysis by T-scan in which force is quantified against time, should be done to establish free functional movements without any interference; otherwise the disturbances in the excursive movements may lead to muscle dysfunction at later years.

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the longevity of reduced disclusion time in treating and removing myofascial pain dysfunction symptoms following the T-Scan-based, immediate complete anterior guidance development (ICAGD) coronoplasty. This measured occlusal adjustment has been shown to reduce the muscle hyperactivity of myofascial pain.Methods:Myofascial pain symptomatic patients were recruited as per the diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), including the clinical protocol and assessment instruments outlined by the international RDC/TMD consortium network (version: January 20, 2014) to assess the efficacy of reduced disclusion time in left and right lateral excursions to resolve the myofascial pain symptoms. As per the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 100 cases were treated with ICAGD in three visits, each 1 week apart. Recall disclusion time measurements were recorded every 3 months over 3 years. The RDC/TMD questionnaire was used for symptom assessment at every recall visit. ICAGD brought pretreatment prolonged disclusion time down to <0.4 s, as quantified from T-Scan force and time data records, while the subjects were assessed for symptom relief. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for statistical analysis (P < 0.05).Results:Changes in the intensity of many symptoms from reducing the disclusion time to <0.4 s were statistically significant from treatment day 1, and onward through the 3-year period of observation (P < 0.05).Conclusion:The results indicate that ICAGD reduces the musculoskeletal symptoms of myofascial pain, such that this methodology increases clinical therapeutic success.