Abstract :
Background: Proprioception should be an important consideration in occlusal contact designs for implantsupported prosthesis, because overstressing the implants may result in implant failures. The purpose of this study was to explore the difference in the proprioception between the natural teeth and osseointegrated dental implants, as a highly tactile sensitive implant can decrease the rate of overloading the remaining teeth and implants. Active tactile sensibility (ATS) test was used in our study as it effectively represents normal function and more useful in practical dentistry.
Materials and Methods: The ATS of single tooth implants - contralateral teeth and between natural -natural tooth, was measured in 25 patients after they bit on standardized aluminium foils of 10um – 1mm thick, each for five times, in a random order blinded to patient and assessor, carried out at two sessions. ATS data was analyzed using paired and unpaired t – test and repeated measure of ANOVA.
Results: The mean time taken to detect aluminium foil was more in cases (23.67sec) as compared to controls (14.42sec) and this difference was also statistically significant. Also the time taken to detect different thickness of aluminium foil decreases with increasing thickness. The result of the study showed that there was a statistically significant difference (p
Conclusion: There was a significant difference between that the implant and natural tooth proprioception. Therefore while designing the prosthesis stress distribution must be considered as an important factor so to avoid implant failures due to overloading.
Keyword :
Proprioception, Dental implants, Overloading, Active tactile sensibility.