Efficiency of ODI and APDI of Kim’s cephalometric analysis in a Latin American population with skeletal open bite

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was to demonstrate the efficiency of the overbite depth indicator (ODI) and the anteroposterior dysplasia indicator (APDI) from Kim’s cephalometric analysis, regarding the determination of the vertical and sagittal patterns of Latin American individuals. METHODS: Two hundred lateral cephalometric radiographs were selected and divided into four study groups, with 50 radiographs each, for carrying out a cross-sectional study. The control group included radiographs of balanced individuals, and the other three groups had lateral cephalometric radiographs of subjects with Class I, II and III malocclusions and with skeletal open bite. After the pilot test was performed to calibrate the investigator, the ODI and APDI were measured. Descriptive statistics were performed and the one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey HSD, or Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-test were used. Also a multiple linear regression was employed. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found for the ODI of all groups (p< 0.001), except between Class I group (65.87 ± 4.26) and Class II open bite group (67.19 ± 3.58), both with similar values to each other. For APDI, statistically significant differences were also found for all groups (p< 0.001). However, no statistically significant differences were found between the balanced group (83.18 ± 1.71) and Class I group with skeletal open bite (81.78 ± 2.69). CONCLUSIONS: ODI and APDI are reliable indicators to evaluate the sagittal and vertical patterns of an individual, demonstrating their efficiency when a Latin American population was evaluated.