Pilot study for three-dimensional cephalometric Enlow's counterpart analysis: Vertical track. Two-dimensional and...

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Orthodontics
• Radiology

Background:

• Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) enables 3D craniofacial analysis in orthodontics.
• Synthesized 2D cephalograms from CBCT lack full 3D anatomical evaluation.
• Enlow's cephalometric analysis has not been previously adapted for 3D CBCT.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel 3D approach for Enlow's vertical track analysis using CBCT images.
• To compare 3D Enlow's vertical track analysis with traditional 2D cephalometric methods.

Main Methods:

• 18 skeletal Class I subjects (ages 9-19) with CBCT scans were analyzed.
• 2D Enlow's vertical track analysis was performed on CBCT-derived lateral cephalograms.
• 3D vertical track analysis was directly conducted on CBCT data.
• Comparisons were made between 2D and 3D analyses of posterior-middle (PVC-MVC) and middle-anterior (MVC-AVC) vertical counterparts.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant difference was found between 3D PVC-MVC (-0.43±0.37 cm) and 2D PVC-MVC (-0.53±0.36 cm) (P=.27).
• No significant difference was observed between 3D MVC-AVC (-0.47±0.37 cm) and 2D MVC-AVC (-0.56±0.34 cm) (P=.28).

Conclusions:

• The proposed 3D method for vertical track analysis on CBCT images is valid.
• The 3D analysis results are superimposable on Enlow's original 2D cephalometric analysis.