Reliability Assessment of Orthodontic Apps for Cephalometrics

Abstract

Objective:The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of cephalometric measurements using iPad apps called CephNinja and SmartCeph Pro. The measurements were compared with the measurements obtained using Dolphin Imaging computer software.Methods:Twenty digital cephalometric radiographs were randomly selected from the archives and traced using the CephNinja app, SmartCeph Pro app, and Dolphin Imaging software. Twenty-one landmarks and 16 measurements were performed in each program. The statistical analysis was conducted using the Bland-Altman analysis at a significance level of 0.05.Results:For the CephNinja app, there were seven measurements that were in accordance with Dolphin Imaging software. For the SmartCeph Pro app, six measurements were in accordance with Dolphin software. Both apps gave better results for angular measurements than linear ones.Conclusion:These findings indicate that, although they are user-friendly, orthodontic apps for cephalometrics are not equal with Dolphin software now and need to be developed to be more reliable for most of the measurements.

Keywords

• cephalometrics
• smartphones
• ipad
• apps