Avaliação da Reprodutibilidade na Identificação de Pontos Anatômicos Obtidos em Telerradiografias Laterais de Crânios Secos Com e Sem Identificadores Metálicos Assessment of Reproducibility in the Identification of Anatomical Landmarks Obtained from Lateral Cephalogram of Dry Skulls With and Without Metal Handles

This study evaluated cephalometric measurements from lateral chephalograms of dry skulls with and without metal points on anatomical landmarks. Materials and methods: Ten dry skulls were used for the acquisition of twenty radiographs divided into two groups: ten radiographs with metal points on anatomical landmarks (gold standard) and ten without the identifiers. A specialist in oral radiology, trained and calibrated, carried out the cephalometric analysis in both groups. Comparisons were performed using paired t-test and Bland & Altman coefficient of repeatability. Results: The results of repeatability coefficient showed statistically differences in some cephalometric measurements performed in cephalograms without the metal markers. Conclusion: An examiner, even if calibrated, is subject to errors in cephalometric measurements. Therefore, the intra-examiner calibration may not reflect certainty of accuracy but the repetition of errors.