Comparison of measurements from manual and photographed lateral cephalograms

ABSTRACT

To compare the accuracy of cephalometric measurements on photographed cephalograms with traditional manual tracing as the gold standard. Cephalometric analysis of specified measurements was performed on cephalometric radiographs manually. Radiographs were subsequently photographed with a digital camera and the images were analyzed digitally with computer software for the same measurements. Paired sample t tests were used for statistical significance [p<0.05]. Clinical significance was set as more than 2o difference between the methods forany angular measurement. Cephalometric comparisons between original and digital images showed statistically significant differences for eight measurements. None of the means of the difference between the angular measurements in the two methods exceeded 20. Photographed cephalograms are reasonably accurate but careful photography technique must beadopted