Visual perception of repaired cleft lip scarring face associated with different malocclusions via eye-tracking

Accessories in clear aligner therapy: Laypeople's expectations for comfort and satisfaction

Background

This study explored the layperson's perception of comfort, satisfaction, and willingness to use various accessories in clear aligner therapy.

Methods

A total of 267 people analyzed standardized intraoral photographs of a female model in orthodontic treatment using: 1) only clear aligner (CA), the control group; 2) clear aligner+attachments (AT); 3) clear aligners+Cl II elastics (EL); 4) clear aligner+hybrid treatment with esthetic braces (HEB); 5) Clear aligner+hybrid treatment with metallic braces (HMB); 6) clear aligner+mini-implants (MI); 7) clear aligner+mini-implants and elastics for intrusion (MIE). In addition, a social media questionnaire was distributed to assess the willingness to undergo orthodontic treatment with various accessories.

Results

There was a significant difference between CA and all the other groups (P<0.001), with CA being considered more comfortable and providing greater satisfaction compared to other accessories. Moreover, AT showed a significant difference in reducing treatment time compared to other groups.

Conclusion

The CA was the most comfortable, exhibiting a higher satisfaction rate and a greater willingness to use it. The AT therapy was perceived as more comfortable and was associated with higher satisfaction and a greater likelihood of use, especially if it resulted in reduced treatment time. On the other hand, the participants reported that the HMB, MI, and MIE accessories were less comfortable.

Association between sex of the individual with untreated cleft lip and social judgement made by lay persons: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether there is an association between an individual's sex and social judgements made by lay persons regarding untreated cleft lip.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Lay individuals over 18 years old were recruited through an application to respond online to two questionnaires: a sociodemographic survey and the Brazilian Version of Lay Persons' Social Judgements about Cleft-lip Scale (B-LSojCleft-S). B-LSojCleft-S comprises 14 items evaluating social judgements made by laypersons concerning different types of untreated cleft lips in teenagers. The 14 items are linked to 8 images featuring untreated cleft lips and 1 image without a cleft (control). Higher scores represented more favourable social judgements. Independent samples t-test, paired, and multiple linear regression were conducted (P < 0.05). The study assessed judgements of untreated cleft lips in male and female adolescents using the B-LSojCleft-S.

RESULTS

The mean age of the 217 participants was 37.78 ± 12.39 years, predominantly women (72.7%), married (47.7%), with a monthly income below three minimum wages (35.6%) in the majority of cases. Significantly higher social judgement scores were observed in the control group (no cleft) compared to any type of cleft (P < 0.001), with similar scores obtained for the same types of clefts with female or male images (P > 0.05). The participant's sex is associated with social judgement scores (F [1, 214] = 6.318, P = 0.013; adjusted R2 = 0.024), with females making more favourable judgements than males (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals with cleft lips receive more negative social judgement scores, regardless of their own sex. Women make better social judgements than men.

The Use of Eye-Tracking Technology in Dento-Maxillofacial Esthetics: A Systematic Review

The use of eye-tracking technology in dental esthetics has gained popularity over the past decade because of its ability to assess observers' visual preferences in an objective manner. The goal of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of eye-tracking studies in dentistry, which could provide a reference for the rational and effective application of eye-tracking technology by dentists in the future. A comprehensive search of articles on eye tracking, published from January 1946 to June 2023, was conducted across several databases using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The major criterion for inclusion was that the study evaluated the use of eye-tracking technology in the field of dentistry. Two independent reviewers screened the eligible studies. A total of 67 articles were identified, 41 of which met our inclusion criteria. The most common application of eye tracking was the assessment of perceptions of changes in specific dental conditions among different classes of observers. Overall differences between groups (different classes of observers, different types of conditions) among different areas or regions of interest were analyzed. This systematic review demonstrated the utility of eye-tracking technology as a quantifiable objective assessment and emerging research tool for evaluating outcomes in several domains of dentistry.

Reliability of the novel cleft lip and palate smile esthetic index (CLP-SEI)

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

The aim of this research was to determine the reliability of a novel index for the assessment of smile esthetics in patients with cleft lip and/or palate (CL ± P) at the end of their multidisciplinary treatment, for use in clinical and academic settings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Five orthodontists, five periodontologists, five general practitioners, five dental students, and five laypeople rated the smiles of 10 patients with CL ± P twice at a 2 weeks interval. The rating scale consisted of four main categories: 1. nasolabial esthetics, 2. gingival esthetics, 3. dental esthetics, and 4. overall esthetics. A total of 15 parameters were rated. Intra- and inter-rater agreements were calculated using SPSS.

RESULTS

The inter-rater agreement varied between good and excellent whereby the orthodontists, periodontists, general practitioners, dental students, and laypeople obtained agreement scores of 0.86, 0.92, 0.84, 0.90, and 0.89, respectively. The intra-rater agreement was good with agreement scores of 0.78, 0.84, 0.84, 0.80, and 0.79, respectively.

LIMITATIONS

Smile esthetics were rated on static pictures, not in real life or by video recordings in a young adult population.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS

The cleft lip and palate smile esthetic index is a reliable tool for the assessment of smile esthetics in patients with CL ± P.

The Use of Eye-Tracking Technology in Pediatric Orofacial Clefts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the quality of the peer-reviewed literature and evaluated the usefulness of eye-tracking technology in evaluating observers' perceptions of pediatric patients with orofacial clefts. PubMed, Science Direct, Wiley, and Web of Science were searched. Articles were screened in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis guidelines, and their methodological quality was assessed. Of the 10,254 identified studies, 12 were included. Eleven studies were cross-sectional, and one was a prospective cohort study. The main areas of interest analyzed were the eyes, nose, and mouth. Nine studies used assessment scales to analyze the link between perceived attractiveness and visualization patterns and measures. For the fixation duration outcome, six studies were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. All studies reported on fixation duration in milliseconds and reported on a standard deviation. The meta-analysis demonstrated a significant difference in the measurements between the control groups and the patients with orofacial clefts. This might indicate the usefulness of eye-tracking technology as a metric for assessing the success of cleft repairs based on the perceptions of different populations. Future studies should be comprehensively reported on for comparability and reproducibility purposes.

The Use of Eye-tracking Technology in Cleft Lip: A Literature Review

Eye-tracking has become an increasingly popular research tool within the field of cleft lip and/or palate (CL+/-P). Despite this, there are no standardized protocols for conducting research. Our objective was to conduct a literature review of the methodology and outcomes of previous publications using eye-tracking in CL+/-P.

Methods

The PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases were searched to identify all articles published up to August 2022. All articles were screened by two independent reviewers. Inclusion criteria included using eye-tracking, image stimuli of CL+/-P, and outcome reporting using areas of interest (AOIs). Exclusion criteria included non-English studies, conference articles, and image stimuli of conditions other than CL+/-P.

Results

Forty articles were identified, and 16 met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Thirteen studies only displayed images of individuals following cleft lip surgery with three only displaying unrepaired cleft lips. Significant variation was found in study design, particularly in the AOIs used to report gaze outcomes. Ten studies asked participants to provide an outcome score alongside eye-tracking; however, only four compared outcome data to eye-tracking data. This review is primarily limited by the minimal number of publications in this area.

Conclusions

Eye-tracking can be a powerful tool in evaluating appearance outcomes following CL+/-P surgery. It is currently limited by the lack of standardized research methodology and varied study design. Before future work, a replicable protocol should be developed to maximize the potential of this technology.