Agreement of in vitro orthodontic measurements on dental plaster casts and digital models using Maestro 3D ortho studio software

OBJECTIVE: Diagnostic casts are one of the standard components of orthodontic records. But they have several drawbacks such as the need for physical space for storage and the risk of breaking due to their brittle composition. Today, the digitalization of orthodontic models is a progress in orthodontics. The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate common orthodontic linear measurements on plaster casts and digital 3D models using Maestro 3D ortho studio® scanner and software (AGE Solutions®, Pontedera, Italy). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study casts of 30 orthodontic patients were selected. Tooth width, space analysis, Bolton analysis, overjet, overbite, and linear measurements of dental arch dimensions were performed by two examiners on plaster casts and digital models. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Intra‐ and interexaminer agreements were evaluated in both manual and digital methods and paired t test was used for evaluating the agreement between the manual and digital measurement. The significance level was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The intraexaminer agreement was excellent (ICC > 0.75) for most variables in both manual and digital methods. The correlation between the two examiners was significant (p < .05) for most manual and digital measurements. The differences between the manual and digital measurements, although maybe statistically significant, were not clinically significant for most variables. CONCLUSION: The use of “Maestro 3D” (AGE Solutions, Pontedera, Italy) scanner and software was acceptable for orthodontic diagnostic measurements instead of study casts.