Farzin Aslani, Masoud Feizbakhsh, Ali Reza Omrani, Roshanak Ghaffari
Background: The emergence of digital imaging has dramatically changed the field of radiology. Digital radiography was primarily adopted for use in the medical field and with the appearance of the first intraoral sensor in 1980; it was employed in dental practice.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the differences in the identification of anatomical landmarks by two conventional and digital lateral cephalometric techniques using manual tracing analysis of human skulls.
Patients and Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study conducted on 17 cases of dry human skulls wherein metal radiopaque markers were attached to nine landmarks including N, S, ANS, PNS, A, B, Pog, the most inferior point of lower mandibular border (TMIPOLMB), and Go. Conventional and digital lateral cephalograms were obtained from each skull with and without markers. The two cephalograms without markers were investigated for landmarks by three orthodontists. Any difference between landmarks and cephalograms with markers were recorded and analyzed by t-test using SPSS v.18.
Results: The level of differences in S point along both x and y coordinates was not statistically significant. The measurement differences for the ANS and PNS points obtained by both radiographic methods were significant along the x coordinate but not along the y coordinate. Moreover, the measurement differences found for TMIPOLMB, A, B, and Go points along both x and y coordinates were statistically significant. In the present study, the measurement difference obtained for the Pog point was significant along the y coordinate but not along the x coordinate.
Conclusions: Although the difference in landmark identification between the two digital and conventional lateral cephalometric techniques was statistically significant for some points on both dimensions, the difference was clinically insignificant and unimportant.
