Comparison of measurements from photographed lateral cephalograms and scanned cephalograms

Introduction: In this study, we investigated whether a digital photograph of a lateral cephalometric radiograph can produce measurements as accurate as those from a digital image created with a flatbed scanner. Methods: Twenty pretreatment lateral cephalograms were randomly selected from the patient files at Chesterfield Royal Hospital. Each radiograph was photographed with a digital camera and scanned with a flatbed scanner. Both images were digitized with imaging software (Dolphin, Chatsworth, Calif). Common cephalometric analyses were performed on both images, and the measurements were recorded. The paired Student t test was used to test for statistically significant differences between the measurements of the images. Results: Angular measurements were not significantly different between the photographed and scanned images, but linear measurements were. Conclusions: It is acceptable to use digital photographs of cephalograms if angular measurements are primarily required. However, these images might not be acceptable if linear measurements are needed.