Digital Comparison of Occlusal Vertical Contacts Between Direct Composite and Indirect Cad/Cam Restorations: An in vivo quantitative assessment

Abstract

Objective: Clinical assessment of the static occlusal vertical contacts for direct composite and indirect Cad/Cam restorations, and evaluation of the clinical experience level's effect on contact registration. Methods: Sixty restorations on maxillary and mandibular molar teeth were investigated. Postgraduate students performed indirect Cad/Cam restorations (Cerasmart, GC Corp., n=20), and both undergraduate and postgraduate students performed direct composite restorations (Ganeial A’chord, GC Corp., n=20 for each). A single supervisor digitally analyzed the occlusal vertical contacts immediately after by using an intraoral scanner (iTero Element-5D, AlignTech) and OrthoCAD software. The tightness of contacts was assessed by counting the pixel numbers in Photoshop CC (Adobe) software. The statistical analyses were performed by Shapiro-Wilk, One-way ANOVA, Tamhane’s T2 test, Kruska-Wallis test, and Dunn tests (p