Reliability of light microscopy and a computer-assisted replica measurement technique for evaluating the fit of dental copings

摘要

Material and Methods: Sixteen CAD/CAM titanium copings were produced for a prepared maxillary canine. To modify the CAD surface model using different parameters (data density; enlargement in different directions), varying fit was created. Five light-body silicone replicas representing the gap between the canine and the coping were made for each coping and for each measurement method: (1) light microscopy measurements (LMMs); and (2) computer-assisted measurements (CASMs) using an optical digitizing system. Two investigators independently measured the marginal and internal fit using both methods. The inter-rater reliability [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)] and agreement [Bland-Altman (bias) analyses]: mean of the differences (bias) between two measurements [the closer to zero the mean (bias) is, the higher the agreement between the two measurements] were calculated for several measurement points (marginal-distal, marginal-buccal, axial-buccal, incisal). For the LMM technique, one investigator repeated the measurements to determine repeatability (intra-rater reliability and agreement). Results: For inter-rater reliability, the ICC was 0.848-0.998 for LMMs and 0.945-0.999 for CASMs, depending on the measurement point. Bland-Altman bias was ?15.7 to 3.5 μm for LMMs and ?3.0 to 1.9 μm for CASMs. For LMMs, the marginal-distal and marginal-buccal measurement points showed the lowest ICC (0.848/0.978) and the highest bias (-15.7 μm/-7.6 μm). With the intra-rater reliability and agreement (repeatability) for LMMs, the ICC was 0.970-0.998 and bias was ?1.3 to 2.3 μm. Conclusion: LMMs showed lower interrater reliability and agreement at the marginal measurement points than CASMs, which indicates a more subjective influence with LMMs at these measurement points. The values, however, were still clinically acceptable. LMMs showed very high intra-rater reliability and agreement for all measurement points, indicating high repeatability.