| Summary: | Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of three thermosensitive microsensors, which record “wear-time” of removable oral appliances (OA) used for orthodontics and obstructive sleep apnea therapy.
Methods: In vitro testing was undertaken for TheraMon (Sensor T, n=20), AIR-AID SLEEP (Sensor A, n=30) and DentiTrac (Sensor D, n=16) microsensors, which were placed in a water bath to simulate “wear-time” of OA. Logs of when the microsensors were placed in the water bath were compared to the time readouts from the microsensors. Trial 1 examined the accuracy of long durations of “wear” (7 hours/day). Trial 2 examined short durations of “wear” (2 hour intervals). Trial 3 tested the impact of different embedding materials on accuracy: acrylic, polyvinylchloride and thermoactive acrylic. In vivo testing included 14 volunteers who wore maxillary retainers embedded with Sensor A and D for 30 nights. Subjects’ logs of appliance usage were compared to the computed readouts from the sensors.
Results: In the in vitro phase, the median absolute deviation of the computed “wear-time” minus the logged time was 0.00 minutes for Sensor A and Sensor T in all trials. For Sensor D, the median deviation was 5.00 minutes in trial 1 and 3 and 10.00 minutes in trial 2. Sensor A was significantly more accurate than Sensor T and Sensor D in trial 1 (p<0.001). In trial 2, Sensor A and Sensor T were equal in accuracy but were significantly better than Sensor D (p<0.001). In trial 3, there was no effect of the material on the recording accuracies of Sensor A (p=0.13) and Sensor D (p=0.41); Polyvinylchloride was found to be significantly less accurate for Sensor T (p<0.05). In the in vivo phase, the median absolute deviation of Sensor A was 3.00 minutes and Sensor D was 5.00 minutes; there was no significant difference between Sensor A and Sensor D (p=0.45).
Conclusion: Sensor D tended to have the largest deviation in recording accuracy in in vitro testing using the water bath. All three microsensors have acceptable clinical accuracy and can be used to record “wear-time” of removable OA fabricated from different materials. === Dentistry, Faculty of === Graduate
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