Abstract :
Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of study model measurements using Nemotec Digital Imaging Software.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 25 sets of study models having all permanent teeth till second molars completely erupted, selected from the pretreatment patient records. The mesio-distal tooth widths of all the permanent teeth till the first molars and arch length from mesial of the first molars of both the sides was measured using both the manual and digital methods. The measurements were taken twice by the same and by another examiner at an interval of two weeks to determine the intra-examiner and inter-examiner error. Bolton's and Carey's analysis was done using both manual and digital measurements.
Results: The data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis by using SPSS version 15 statistical analysis software. All the correlations between the first and second observations were strong (r>0.9) showing good reproducibility of measurements. The means, standard deviations and ranges were determined and the manual and digital measurements were compared usinga paired t-test. Statistically significant differences were found for the tooth size and arch length, with the digital measurements being smaller than the manual measurement. The differences were small and clinically insignificant. Bolton's and Carey's analysis showed no statistically significant difference between both the methods.
Conclusion: The Nemotec Digital Imaging Software may be used reliably for study model analysis.
Keyword :
Study models, Digital measurements, Software.