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Accuracy in predicting soft tissue changes of orthodontic class III cases using Dolphin® software

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Abstract

Objectives

The prediction of posttreatment outcomes is conducive to the final determination of ideal therapeutic options. However, the prediction accuracy in orthodontic class III cases is unclear. Therefore, this study conducted exploration on prediction accuracy in orthodontic class III patients using the Dolphin® software.

Materials and methods

In this retrospective study, lateral cephalometric radiographs of pre- and posttreatment were collected from 28 angle class III adults who received completed non-orthognathic orthodontic therapy (8 males, 20 females; mean age = 20.89 ± 4.26 years). The values of 7 posttreatment parameters were recorded and inserted into the Dolphin® Imaging software to generate a predicted outcome, and then the prediction radiograph and actual posttreatment radiograph were superimposed and compared in terms of soft tissue parameters and landmarks.

Results

The prediction showed significant differences with the actual outcomes in nasal prominence (the difference between the prediction and the actual value was − 0.78 ± 1.82 mm), the distance from the lower lip to the H line (0.55 ± 1.11 mm), and the distance from the lower lip to the E line (0.77 ± 1.62 mm) (p < 0.05). Point subnasale (Sn) (an accuracy of 92.86% in the horizontal direction and 100% in the vertical direction in 2 mm) and point soft tissue A (ST A) (an accuracy of 92.86% in the horizontal direction and 85.71% in the vertical direction in 2 mm) were proven to be the most accurate landmarks, while the predictions in the chin region were relatively inaccurate. Furthermore, the predictions in the vertical direction were of higher accuracy compared to the horizontal direction except for the points around the chin.

Conclusions

The Dolphin® software demonstrated acceptable prediction accuracy in midfacial changes in class III patients. However, there were still limitations for changes in the chin and lower lip prominence.

Clinical relevance

Clarifying the accuracy of Dolphin® software in predicting soft tissue changes of orthodontic class III cases will facilitate physician–patient communication and clinical treatment.

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Data availability

Data availability is upon request to the corresponding author.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31971240); the Project of the West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University (No. LCYJ2019-22); and the Chengdu Artificial Intelligence Application and Development Industrial Technology Basic Public Service Platform (No. 2021-0166-1-2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Center of Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Department of Orthodontics, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Ke Xing, Hongxiang Mei, Qingchen Feng, Shuqi Quan, Guanning Zhang, Dan Mei & Juan Li

  2. The Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine & Jiangxi Province Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & the Second Department of Orthodontics, the Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China

    Ao Jia & Hongshan Ge

Authors
  1. Ke Xing
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  2. Hongxiang Mei
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  3. Qingchen Feng
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  4. Shuqi Quan
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  5. Guanning Zhang
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  6. Ao Jia
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  7. Hongshan Ge
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  8. Dan Mei
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  9. Juan Li
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Contributions

Ke Xing contributed to the conceptualization, methodology, data curation, and writing, original draft preparation. Hongxiang Mei and Qingchen Feng contributed to the software, formal analysis, and writing, review and editing. Shuqi Quan and Guanning Zhang contributed to the methodology; writing, review and editing; and formal analysis. Ao Jia, Hongshan Ge and Dan Mei contributed to the visualization and data curation. Juan Li contributed to the funding acquisition, supervision, and writing, review and editing. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hongshan Ge or Juan Li.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the ethics committee of West China Hospital of Stomatology (No. WCHSIRB-2021-136) and has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Consent to participate

Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Xing, K., Mei, H., Feng, Q. et al. Accuracy in predicting soft tissue changes of orthodontic class III cases using Dolphin® software. Clin Oral Invest 27, 4531–4539 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-023-05077-0

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