A Comparative Study of Condylar Guidance Setting Obtained from Interocclusal Records and Panoramic Radiographs in both Dentulous and Edentulous Subjects

To compare the condylar guidance values obtained from interocclusal records and the panoramic radiographs in both dentulous and edentulous subjects. : 20 dentulous and 20 edentulous subjects having specific criteria were selected for the Materials & Methods:20 dentulous and 20 edentulous subjects having specific criteria were selected for the cross-sectional descriptive in-vivo study. In the first method, the sagittal condylar guidance values for both the groups were recorded after obtaining protrusive records using HANAU articulator modelWide-Vue, U.S.A. In the second method panoramic radiographs were made of all the edentulous and dentulous subjects in the natural head position and tracings were done of the outline of glenoid fossa and the articular eminence. The angles formed by the lines drawn were measured and the values obtained were compared with those from the inter-occlusal record method. The condylar guidance readings of both dentulous and edentulous subjects obtained from the interocclusal records and those by tracing panoramic radiographic images were compared by Mann Whitney U test and Karl Pearson's coefficient of correlation test. Results:The condylar guidance values obtained from the interocclusal records were less when compared to the values obtained from tracing the panoramic radiographs. Significant correlation (r=0.9) between the condylar guidance values obtained for left and right sides in interocclusal record group and a moderate correlation (r=0.65) between the condylar guidance values obtained for left and right sides from panoramic radiographs.Conclusion:The results from this study showed that measurement of condylar inclination angles using panoramic radiographs gave higher values, as compared to the inter-occlusal record method. Also, panoramic radiographic method revealed less difference between the condylar guidance values obtained for left and right sides as compared to the articulator method.Although, significant amount of correlation was found between the two methods, variations due to different operators and better radiographic techniques should be further investigated.