An In Vivo Study to Evaluate the Influence of Salivary Isolation on Occlusal Contact Marks Obtained Using Articulating Paper

Purpose: This study aims to highlight the significance of proper salivary isolation and to evaluate its influence on the reliability of occlusal contact markings.Materials and methods: A 40 µm hydrophilic articulating paper was used to evaluate occlusal contacts on mandibular posteriors in 32 subjects under three isolation conditions: no isolation, air-dry, and cotton-roll isolation.The size, number, and color intensity of the marks obtained were evaluated by a single, trained, and calibrated investigator in all situations.The difference in the number of occlusal contacts and the size of the largest contact was analyzed using ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc analysis.The difference in the color intensity between the groups was analyzed using a chi-square test.Results: One-way ANOVA revealed a significant difference in the mean number of occlusal contacts among the three isolation conditions (p < 0.001), with cotton roll isolation showing the highest contact values.The mean dimension of the largest contact progressively decreased from 1.27 mm without isolation to 1.06 mm with air-dry isolation and 0.99 mm with cotton roll isolation.Mark intensity also showed a significant association with isolation technique (χ² = 50.785,p < 0.001), with dark markings predominantly observed under cotton roll isolation (90.6%).These findings suggest that improved salivary isolation enhances the accuracy and precision of occlusal contact detection.Conclusion: Significant variation was present with regard to the number, size, and color of occlusal contact markings in different isolation conditions.The use of cotton roll isolation with adjunctive air drying significantly increased the number of discernible occlusal contact marks compared to no isolation.Moreover, the markings exhibited reduced dimensions and increased color intensity, indicating improved precision and clarity.