Emerging Technologies and Advancements in Orthodontic Diagnosis

While orthodontic treatment affects all three dimensions, many of the current tools of diagnosis employ only a two dimensional (2D) representation of the patient. The development of integrated 3-D tools has helped to interpolate the 3-D data and visualize a 3-dimensional problem 3-dimensionally and treat accordingly. Highly sophisticated technologies from the fields of digital imaging, computer graphics, robotics, computational analysis and database management are cruising their way into the specialty. With treatment records always at the orthodontist's finger tips, orthodontic treatment has streamlined and patient management has reached levels of sophistication never before possible. The internet and the development of high speed communication modalities have enabled group practices, with multiple locations, to access records in outlying locations electronically. This paradigm shift should propel orthodontics well into the future. This book provides the clinicians with emerging technologies and advancements in orthodontic diagnostic aids.