Intraoral versus extraoral digital occlusal records: a pilot study

The aim of the present pilot study was to analyze the reliability of interocclusal contact records generated with an intraoral scanner (TRIOS Standard) and an extraoral scanner (Zfx Evolution). Ten patients were selected. The number of occlusal contacts was first determined with the conventional method using 8-µm articulating paper (gold standard) (control). These conventional records were then compared with the intra- and extraoral digital records. Diagnostics tests (sensitivity, specificity, predictive values for positives and negatives), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and Cohen's kappa coefficient were performed to analyze the data. The kappa index of the extraoral scanner (40.7%) was considered to be 'moderate,' and better than that of the intraoral scanner (26.1%), which was considered to be 'low.' The extraoral scanner showed better results in the diagnostic test and in the ROC curve. The first results suggest that the extraoral scanner is more reliable for recording occlusal contacts than the intraoral scanner. Keywords: occlusal contacts, articulating paper, intraoral scanner, extraoral scanner, digital impressions