Development of a three dimensional analysis of buccolingual inclinations in maxillary transverse deficiencies

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: The purpose of this thesis was to develop a new 3D transverse analysis that utilizes a 3D Cartesian coordinate system to assess buccolingual inclinations of first molars and canines using a previously described 3D maxillary reference plane. Landmarks used to create this analysis were assed for reliability and compared to the reliability of the previously described CWRU transverse analysis. Resulting buccolingual inclinations from this new analysis and CWRU transverse analysis were compared. Methods: CBCTs of 10 skulls were used to test reliability of the landmarks chosen to develop a novel analysis and reliability of the angular measurements produced by the CWRU transverse analysis. CBCTs of 60 patients were then used to compare resulting angular measurements, molar and canine buccolingual inclinations, between the two methods. Results: All 20 Avizo landmarks for the novel 3D analysis were reliable. The 8 angular CWRU measurements demonstrated good intra-examiner reliability but reduced inter-examiner reliability. There was a statistically significant difference for all measured teeth when techniques were compared but only maxillary canines showed a clinical difference between both methods. Conclusion: The developed Alberta DS transverse analysis was demonstrated to be very reliable and produced results clinically similar to the CWRU transverse analysis except for maxillary canines. This novel analysis can provide a new, reliable tool to aid in diagnosing maxillary transverse deficiencies by identifying dental compensations.