## 3 Results
### Clinical Research  
After 3D printing the retainer, the supports were removed from the occlusal surface, and it was polished. Due to the high precision of the tooth surfaces, no adjustment was required. Digital measurement of occlusion was performed during the initial placement of the retainer. The same clinician performed scans with both the intraoral scanner and the T-Scan Novus system.  
Once the finished retainer framework was placed on the upper dentition, a digital measurement of the occlusion was taken using the T-Scan Novus system. The T-Scan system provides a color map based on the pressure detected by the sensor, corresponding to the force of contacts between the teeth. The color markings in the map indicate the strength of the contacts, with strong contacts represented by violet and red colors, followed by yellow, green, and weak contacts shown in blue. By pre-importing the intraoral images captured by the Trios color scanner, the software accurately positions the contacts on the tooth surfaces, ensuring that they are placed in their correct locations. This integration of data from the intraoral images and the T-Scan system facilitates a more precise analysis of the occlusion and the distribution of forces within the dental arches, Figure 7.  
Figure 5: Color map of occlusal contacts (3 Shape).  
Figure 6: Occlusal zones and thin design areas (3 Shape).  
Although the distribution of contacts across different areas of the dentition was found to be uniform, there were variations in the strength of these contacts. The dentition was divided into four zones: two frontal zones and two distal zones, specifically right distal, right frontal, left frontal, and left distal. A predominance of contact strength in the distal area was observed. The overall distribution of contact force by zone can be seen in Table 2. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated a significant difference between the distribution forces of the left and right distal zones (\(z=-2.416\), \(p=0.016\)). We observed a significantly higher percentage of force distribution in the left distal zones compared to the right distal zones. However, there was no statistically significant difference in force distribution between the left frontal zone and the right frontal zones (\(z=-0.261\), \(p=0.794\)).  
The sex distribution of contact force by zone is demonstrated in Table 3. There was no statistically significant difference between men and women in the right distal zones (\(p=0.468\)), right frontal zones (\(p=0.756\)), left distal zones (\(p=0.512\)), and left frontal zones (\(p=0.756\)).  
A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the distribution forces between the left and right distal zones in both men and women. We found a significant difference between the distribution forces of the left and right distal zones (\(z=-2.091\), \(p=0.037\)) in men. However, we did not find a significant difference between the distribution forces in women.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Zone**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Median**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**IQR**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Minimum**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Maximum**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\(z\)} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\(p\)} \\ \hline
**Distal** & **left (\%)** & 40.60 & 37.50–42.35 & 35.40 & 45.40 & \(-2.416\) & **0.016** \\  & **right (\%)** & 36.80 & 35.55–38.90 & 33.80 & 40.40 & & \\ \hline
**Frontal** & **left (\%)** & 11.60 & 10.60–12.30 & 8.20 & 14.35 & \(-0.261\) & 0.794 \\  & **right (\%)** & 11.60 & 10.23–12.70 & 6.80 & 14.60 & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: The percentage force distribution in the frontal and distal zones of the study group.  
Figure 7: Digital analysis of occlusion with T-Scan Novus (Tekscan)—maximum intercuspation.