eprintid: 1195
rev_number: 6
eprint_status: archive
userid: 6
dir: disk0/00/00/11/95
datestamp: 2012-02-27 13:18:13
lastmod: 2012-02-27 13:18:13
status_changed: 2012-02-27 13:18:13
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Auconi, Pietro
creators_name: Caldarelli, Guido
creators_name: Scala, Antonio
creators_name: Ierardo, Gaetano
creators_name: Polimeni, Antonella
creators_id: 
creators_id: guido.caldarelli@imtlucca.it
creators_id: 
creators_id: 
creators_id: 
title: A network approach to orthodontic diagnosis
ispublished: pub
subjects: QC
subjects: RK
divisions: EIC
full_text_status: none
keywords: class II and class III malocclusions; craniofacial topology; network analysis
abstract: 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.
date: 2011-10
date_type: published
publication: Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research
volume: 14
number: 4
publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
pagerange: 189-197
id_number: 10.1111/j.1601-6343.2011.01523.x
refereed: TRUE
issn: 1601-6335
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1601-6343.2011.01523.x
citation:   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)