In Vivo Validation of a Three‐Dimensional Optical Method to Document Volumetric Soft Tissue Changes of the Interdental Papilla

Abstract

Background: Non‐surgical and surgical periodontal treatment may cause volumetric changes in the gingival contour. Many techniques have been suggested to minimize soft tissue shrinkage; however, there is a lack of three‐dimensional (3D) quantitative data comparing different treatment approaches. The aim of the present study was to clinically validate an easy‐to‐use chair‐side procedure to document volumetric changes in the interdental papilla region. Methods: Nine volunteers participated in the study. A thin layer of a flowable composite resin material was applied on a papilla and volumetrically analyzed using the clinical chair‐side computer‐aided design/computer‐aided machining (CAD/CAM) 3D method. To accurately measure the applied volumes, the composite resin volume was also determined using microcomputed tomography (μ‐CT) and weight measurements. In addition, inter‐ and intraexaminer differences were evaluated in the same manner using a dental training unit (phantom head) to simulate clinical conditions. Results: No statistically significant difference was found between the results obtained by μ‐CT and the weight measurements. The CAD/CAM 3D method showed a significant underestimation of the composite resin volume ( P = 0.0047) compared to μ‐CT, although the two methods correlated well (R 2 = 0.991). High accuracy was found when inter‐ and intraexaminer differences were evaluated, showing a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.99. Conclusion: CAD/CAM 3D device and software are an easy‐to‐use chair‐side method to document changes in soft tissues.