Orthodontic treatment quality evaluated by partially automated digital IOTN and PAR index determination: a retrospective multicentre study

Summary Background Orthodontic therapy aims to treat misaligned teeth and jaws to improve dental occlusion as well as the function and aesthetics of the masticatory system. Continuous data collection to check treatment quality is of great importance for the constant optimization of orthodontic care. Objective The aim of this retrospective multicentre cohort study was to systematically determine the outcome and quality of orthodontic treatment by applying the internationally established Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) index in multiple clinical settings for a representative number of patient cases. Materials and methods A total of 1509 consecutive orthodontic patient cases (treatment completion between January 2018 and December 2020) from three representative orthodontic centres (University clinic, city office, small town office) were analysed in a multicentre study. The pre- and post-treatment casts were scanned, digitally measured, and partially automatically evaluated using the IOTN and PAR indices. Results A statistically significant improvement in occlusion was observed for medically necessary treatment of IOTN grades 4 and 5 in 97.30 per cent of the analysed cases and for treatment-requiring grades 2 and 3 in 94.08 per cent of the analysed cases. The average percentage PAR improvement was 76.51 per cent. 72.50 per cent of cases showed improvement of more than 70 per cent. The mean PAR index score was reduced from 28.19 ± 9.49 to 6.22 ± 5.41 points. Conclusion The present data demonstrate that orthodontic treatment is efficient in inducing significant improvement of malocclusions in general and has a high success rate with severe dysgnathia.