Prediction of hand-wrist maturation stages based on cervical vertebrae images using artificial intelligence.

OBJECTIVE: To predict the hand-wrist maturation stages based on the cervical vertebrae (CV) images, and to analyse the accuracy of the proposed algorithms. SETTINGS AND POPULATION: A total of 499 pairs of hand-wrist radiographs and lateral cephalograms of 455 orthodontic patients aged 6-18 years were used for developing the prediction model for hand-wrist skeletal maturation stages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hand-wrist radiographs and the lateral cephalograms were collected from two university hospitals and a paediatric dental clinic. After identifying the 13 anatomic landmarks of the CV, the width-height ratio, width-perpendicular height ratio and concavity ratio of the CV were used as the morphometric features of the CV. Patients' chronological age and sex were also included as input data. The ground truth data were the Fishman SMI based on the hand-wrist radiographs. Three specialists determined the ground truth SMI. An ensemble machine learning methods were used to predict the Fishman SMI. Five-fold cross-validation was performed. The mean absolute error (MAE), round MAE and root mean square error (RMSE) values were used to assess the performance of the final ensemble model. RESULTS: The final ensemble model consisted of eight machine learning models. The MAE, round MAE and RMSE were 0.90, 0.87 and 1.20, respectively. CONCLUSION: Prediction of hand-wrist SMI based on CV images is possible using machine learning methods. Chronological age and sex increased the prediction accuracy. An automated diagnosis of the skeletal maturation may aid as a decision-supporting tool for evaluating the optimal treatment timing for growing patients.

Nonsyndromic multiple mandibular supernumerary premolars.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to estimate the frequency of and describe the clinical characteristics and complications of patients with nonsyndromic multiple mandibular supernumerary premolars. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Among 110,500 patients seen between July 2003 and January 2007, 32 cases of multiple (2 or more) mandibular supernumerary premolars were found. Data including age, gender, number, distribution, and location of supernumerary premolars, extraction procedure, and related complications (such as cystic changes, root resorption, or adjacent teeth eruption disturbance) were collected. RESULTS: Six of 32 patients were female; the male to female ratio was 4.3:1. Prevalence of non-syndromic multiple mandibular supernumerary premolars was 0.029%. Mean age was 17.8 years. Root resorption of an adjacent tooth was found in 1 patient. Eruption anomalies were found in 5 patients and included impaction of a permanent tooth, prolonged retention of a deciduous tooth, and displacement of an adjacent tooth. Supernumerary teeth locations were predominantly lingual except for 4 teeth. CONCLUSION: Prevalence found in this study was lower compared with previous studies. However, the rate of related complications was higher, even though the mean age was relatively low. Surgical intervention should be considered to prevent unwanted sequelae for any signs of complication.

Multiple internal resorptions in deciduous teeth: a case report.

We report a case of rare multiple internal resorptions. Etiology of multiple internal resorptions is unknown. Interestingly, the patient had an atopic dermatitis, which is possibly related to multiple and rapid internal resorptions.