Comparison of two imaging programs in predicting the soft tissue changes with mandibular advancement surgery

Area of Science:

• Orthodontics and Oral Surgery
• Medical Imaging Software
• Surgical Outcome Prediction

Background:

• Accurate treatment planning in surgical orthodontic therapy is essential for patient and clinician alignment.
• Imaging software has significantly advanced the visualization and planning of complex surgical procedures.
• Evaluating the predictive accuracy of surgical simulation software is critical for clinical adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the reliability of Dolphin Imaging 10 and Vistadent OC in simulating mandibular advancement surgery outcomes.
• To compare the accuracy of software predictions against actual surgical results using subjective and objective measures.

Main Methods:

• Two surgical imaging programs, Dolphin Imaging 10 and Vistadent OC, were used to simulate mandibular advancement.
• A panel comprising orthodontists, oral surgeons, and laypersons evaluated simulated outcomes using a visual analog scale (VAS).
• Soft tissue cephalometric analysis was performed to objectively assess prediction accuracy.

Main Results:

• Both imaging programs achieved a fair overall rating for predicting surgical outcomes via VAS.
• One program demonstrated marginal superiority across all panelist groups.
• The submental region showed the highest accuracy, while the lower lip region exhibited the least accuracy in predictions.

Conclusions:

• Dolphin Imaging 10 and Vistadent OC demonstrate acceptable reliability for predicting outcomes of mandibular advancement surgery.
• Inaccuracies in prediction are most pronounced in the lower lip region.
• Further refinement of software algorithms may be needed to improve simulation accuracy, particularly for soft tissue changes.