Aim: To assess the reliability of Dolphin software in predicting soft tissue compensations following Orthognathic surgery in Class III patients. Materials and methods: The study included 24 Class III patients (14 males and 10 females) to whom a Bijaw Orthognathic surgical procedure was planned. CBCTs were taken in the Carestream 9600 and 3D photographs were taken using Bellus 3D software. The 3D photographs were superimposed with their respective CBCTs pre-surgically and the planned surgical simulation was performed. The following soft tissue parameters were measured, the values were compared between the virtual planned superimpositions and the actual post surgical superimpositions. Results and discussion: Shapiro Wilk test was performed to test the parametricity of baseline data. Mann-Whitney test was performed to test the difference between measurements at T0 and T1. Significant differences were noted in the measurements of the structures related to the mandible, namely soft tissue chin thickness (Gn-Gn’, B-B’, Pg-Pg’), upper lip and lower lip length. Significant differences were noted in most of the midline structures, namely the subalar distance and the inter-chelion width. Conclusions: Dolphin 3D software has limitations in predicting midface soft tissue changes in patients who receive a double-jaw surgery. It can accurately simulate these changes in middle thirds. Clinicians should be careful when using surgical virtual programs and inspect them for errors in the upper and lower thirds of the face.
Keywords:- accuracy
- Dolphin 3D
- reliability
- virtual surgical planning