A study on the accuracy of horizontal condylar guidance values in edentulous patients using preprosthetic diagnostic radiographs

CONTEXT: Determination of horizontal condylar guidance (HCG) by various clinical and radiographic methods was performed by several investigators. If a correlation between HCG values using lateral radiographic tracing and protrusive interocclusal records can be established, the necessity of performing elaborate recording procedures can be eliminated. AIMS: The aim of this study is to evaluate and to compare the correlation between HCG values in edentulous people using the protrusive interocclusal records mounted on a semi-adjustable articulator with the manual tracing of panoramic radiograph and lateral cephalogram. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 20 completely edentulous individuals of either sex from 45 to 75 years (mean age 63.15 years) fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in this in vivo study. In all the participants, HCG angles were determined clinically using protrusive interocclusal records and semi-adjustable articulator after intraoral gothic arch tracing. Radiographically, it was obtained by cephalometric tracing of panoramic radiograph and lateral cephalogram. RESULTS: The present study shows mean HCG ± standard deviation (SD) of 28.17° ± 5.99° for interocclusal protrusive record while cephalometric tracing method yielded HCG ± SD of 38.95° ± 4.77° and 35.2° ± 4.94° for lateral cephalogram and orthopantomogram, respectively. A statistically significant positive correlation (P < 0.0001) was found among these three methods. CONCLUSION: HCG can be successfully determined in edentulous participants by using three aforementioned methods. HCG values from cephalometric tracing of diagnostic radiographs can be used as an adjunct to the clinical method but cannot be used independently for programming a semi-adjustable articulator