Precision Assessment of Cephalometric Analysis Software in Orthodontics

Abstract

Background: Orthodontic treatment prediction and monitoring heavily rely on cephalometric analysis and measurements of skull characteristics utilizing lateral cephalograms.

Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate and compare two commercially available artificial intelligence software that offer cephalometric analysis with manual cephalometric analysis. The null hypothesis of the study is that artificial intelligence-powered tools for cephalometric analysis and manual cephalometric analysis will be accurate and interchangeable.

Materials and Methods: The study sample included 60 lateral cephalometric radiographs from a database of pre-orthodontic patient data. A cephalometric analysis was performed on the sample using cephalometric artificial intelligence software (WebCeph and easyceph) and manual method for 12 selected landmarks.  A one-way ANOVA was employed for comparison.

Results: The mean values of 12 measured parameters for 60 samples were within the normal values of these measured parameters. The comparison indicated non-significant differences between the two artificial intelligence software and manual cephalometric analysis for all measured parameters.

Conclusions: The study concluded that the cephalometric analysis using cephalometric artificial intelligence software (WebCeph and easyceph) offered the same level of precision as manual tracing. Instead of the traditional methods, it might be used for a wide range of orthodontic analyses because it can save time and effort for the orthodontist. However, more research is needed to provide strong evidence for its use in clinical and research fields.

Keywords: cephalometric analysis, Orthodontics, lateral cephalograms, cephalometric software

DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/15-1-03

Publication date: January 30th 2025