Time required for performing a manual cephalometric analysis compared to a digital cephalometric analysis on DentiCephX software

Maliha Mumtaz; Afeef Umar Zia; Kausar Illyas; Huma Khan; Esha Zakria; Zainab Hayyat Raja

Time required for performing a manual cephalometric analysis compared to a digital cephalometric analysis on DentiCephX software

Authors

Maliha Mumtaz BDS; Resident, Department of Orthodontics, Margalla Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Afeef Umar Zia BDS, FCPS, M Orth RCS Ed, FDS RCS Ed, FDT FEd; Associate Professor & HOD, Department of Orthodontics, Margalla Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Kausar Illyas BDS, FCPS; Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Margalla Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Huma Khan BDS; Resident, Department of Orthodontics, Margalla Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Esha Zakria BDS; Resident, Department of Orthodontics, Margalla Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Zainab Hayyat Raja BDS; Resident, Department of Orthodontics, Margalla Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Keywords:

Cephalograms, cephalometric analysis, digitization, manual tracing

Abstract

Introduction: Diagnostic cephalometric analysis can be performed manually as well as with the help of softwares. It is observed that a digital analysis is less time consuming as compared to a manual analysis. Therefore, the objective of this study was to measure the mean difference in time taken to perform a manual cephalometric analysis as opposed to an analysis performed with the help of digital cephalometric software.

Material and Methods: A total of 50 good quality cephalograms taken with the same machine were included in the study. They were randomly divided among four orthodontic residents (R1=13, R2=13, R3=12 and R4=12). All residents performed manual tracing and analysis followed by digitization and analysis on DentiCephX software. Time required for performing each task was recorded using a stopwatch. Paired sample t-test was used to compare the time required for performing a digital cephalometric analysis versus a manual cephalometric analysis. 10 radiographs were retraced after 2 weeks and intra class correlation coefficient was used to measure inter rater reliability.

Results: The mean time required for manual and digital cephalometric tracing and analysis was 07m: 06s Â± 01m: 45s and 01m: 33s Â± 00m: 32s respectively. The difference in time required for manual and digital tracing and analysis was statistically significant (p=0.001). p value â‰¤ 0.05 was considered as significant.

Conclusions: This study showed statistically significant difference in time required for performing a digital cephalometric analysis versus a manual cephalometric analysis.