relation: http://eprints.imtlucca.it/1195/
title: A network approach to orthodontic diagnosis
creator: Auconi, Pietro
creator: Caldarelli, Guido
creator: Scala, Antonio
creator: Ierardo, Gaetano
creator: Polimeni, Antonella
subject: QC Physics
subject: RK Dentistry
description: Background –  Network analysis, a recent advancement in complexity science, enables understanding of the properties of complex biological processes characterized by the interaction, adaptive regulation, and coordination of a large number of participating components.  Objective –  We applied network analysis to orthodontics to detect and visualize the most interconnected clinical, radiographic, and functional data pertaining to the orofacial system.  Materials and Methods –  The sample consisted of 104 individuals from 7 to 13 years of age in the mixed dentition phase without previous orthodontic intervention. The subjects were divided according to skeletal class; their clinical, radiographic, and functional features were represented as vertices (nodes) and links (edges) connecting them.  Results –  Class II subjects exhibited few highly connected orthodontic features (hubs), while Class III patients showed a more compact network structure characterized by strong co-occurrence of normal and abnormal clinical, functional, and radiological features. Restricting our analysis to the highest correlations, we identified critical peculiarities of Class II and Class III malocclusions.  Conclusions –  The topology of the dentofacial system obtained by network analysis could allow orthodontists to visually evaluate and anticipate the co-occurrence of auxological anomalies during individual craniofacial growth and possibly localize reactive sites for a therapeutic approach to malocclusion.
publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
date: 2011-10
type: Article
type: PeerReviewed
identifier:   Auconi, Pietro and Caldarelli, Guido and Scala, Antonio and Ierardo, Gaetano and Polimeni, Antonella  A network approach to orthodontic diagnosis.  Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research, 14 (4).  pp. 189-197.  ISSN 1601-6335      (2011)  
relation: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1601-6343.2011.01523.x
relation: 10.1111/j.1601-6343.2011.01523.x