Researchers at the University College of London Eastman Dental Institutehave found that the chairside picture archiving and communicationssystem (PACS) can eliminate the need for hand tracing when conductingorthodontic cephalometric analysis. Their findings appear in the European Journal of Orthodontics.

The researchers sought to compare PACS with hand tracing andon-screen digitization using a commercial program (Dolphin ImagingPlus™, version 10.0). They selected 100 digital lateral cephalometricradiographs and analyzed them using the Eastman analysis. Both angularand linear measurements were recorded, and a single operator traced eachradiograph twice, using PACS, hand tracing, and Dolphin Imaging.

PACS was found to be more repeatable than Dolphin for measuring theangle between the upper incisors and the maxillary plane, but lessrepeatable than hand tracing for measuring percentage lower anteriorface height. The researchers also found statistically significantsystematic differences between PACS, hand tracing, and Dolphin whenmeasuring lower incisor inclination. However, all three methods agreedon average, and differences between the methods were all withinclinically acceptable limits.

According to the researchers, the use of PACS at the chairside allowsorthodontists the freedom to analyze digital cephalograms at the sameappointment as when the digital radiograph is taken.