Applicative characteristics of new microelectronic sensors Smart Retainer® and TheraMon® for measuring wear time.
OBJECTIVE
To ascertain the extent to which the new microelectronic sensors Smart Retainer® and TheraMon® are suitable for measuring wear times in orthodontic treatment.


METHODS
The Smart Retainer® wear-time sensor and a prototype of the TheraMon® microsensor were each polymerized into upper plates. The orthodontic appliances were exposed to periodically altered temperatures in a thermostatic water bath.


RESULTS
The wear-time sensors recorded the changes in water temperatures as "wear time" (~35 °C) or "non-wear time" (room temperature). The wear times stored in the sensors were displayed and printed outside the water bath as "wear-time graphs" via readout stations and computers. To be better able to predict their reliability and applicability in orthodontic treatment, we measured the accuracy of the two wear-time sensors by comparing the wear times recorded by the Smart Retainer® and TheraMon® with the programmed water temperatures.


CONCLUSIONS
Both microelectronic sensors fulfilled the basic requirements for use as objective wear-time sensors in orthodontic appliances in clinical trials and routine orthodontic practice. As it can be incorporated into different orthodontic appliances, the smaller TheraMon® system offers greater versatility than the Smart Retainer®. The TheraMon® also permits the accurate documentation and analysis of wear times down to the minute.
Schott
Timm Cornelius
TC
Department of Orthodontics, Eberhard Karl University, Tübingen, Germany. timm_schott@gmx.de
Göz
Gernot
G
D003625:Data Collection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008838:Microcomputers; D008839:Microelectrodes; D016382:Orthodontic Appliance Design; D009968:Orthodontic Appliances, Removable; D018704:Orthodontic Retainers; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012984:Software