Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate four different methods used to examine preparation taper and relative parallelism of the prepared abutment teeth. Materials and Methods: A total of 12 artificial teeth were prepared simulating six sets of prepared abutments. Proximal walls of the premolars in all sets were prepared parallel and 90° to the occlusal plane, whereas walls of the second molars were prepared either 0°, 20°, or 45° to the long axis of the premolar preparation. A total number of 210 participants were involved in the study. All data of the taper evaluation and responses to the questionnaire were coded and entered into an Excel Spreadsheet file. Statistical analyses of the participants' responses were performed using the Chi-square test with P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: No significant difference was found between the educational levels relative to their responses to level of difficulty, sensitivity, skills, and technical demands for the four techniques. The intraoral mirror technique in the mandibular arch was found to be statistically significantly (P < 0.05) better. The surveyor technique in the maxillary arch was found to be statistically significantly (P < 0.05) better. The highest percentage of faculty members (50%) chose dental surveyor (DS) as the most preferred technique to be included into the academic curriculum. Conclusions: The DS was more favored among the respondents across all educational levels. This technique presented high potential in accurately evaluating tooth preparation in comparison to the intraoral techniques.
Keywords
Dental surveyor - hand piece - intra-oral mouth mirror - photographic mirror
