Accuracy of 3-Dimensional Virtual Surgical Simulation Combined With Digital Teeth Alignment: A Pilot Study

Abstract

To evaluate the accuracy of virtual surgical simulation combined with digital teeth alignment and the applicability of this technique to the diagnosis and establishment of a 3-dimensional (3D) visualized treatment objective for orthognathic surgery by comparing virtual simulation images with actual post-treatment images. This retrospective study included patients who underwent computed tomography (CT) before and after treatment. The 3D digital images were constructed from the initial CT images and dental cast scan data, and virtual surgical simulation combined with digital teeth alignment was performed. Accuracy of the virtual simulation was analyzed by comparing the distances of skeletal and dental landmarks in the horizontal, sagittal, and coronal reference planes with those on post-treatment images using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated to evaluate the degree of concordance between the 2 images. The study sample included 11 patients (mean age, 18.8yr). Most landmarks had differences smaller than 2mm in the 3 reference planes between virtual simulation and post-treatment images; these differences were not statistically significant (P>.05). Most skeletal landmarks, except the A point, B point, and gonion, showed normal to high concordance between the virtual simulation and post-treatment images in the 3 reference planes (P<.05); dental landmarks exhibited a broad range of concordance. The 3D virtual surgical simulation combined with digital teeth alignment using pretreatment CT images yielded results sufficiently accurate to be used for the diagnosis and establishment of visualized treatment objectives for orthognathic surgery.