Volumetric and Surface Measurements of the Palate in Infants With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: A 3D Scanning Comparative Study

Objective To compare surface and volumetric measurements obtained from 3D digital palatal casts of patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) acquired using 2 optical systems: laser scanning (Dental Wings 3Series) and stereophotogrammetry (Vectra 3D Imaging System). Design Retrospective methodological study. Setting: International clinical and laboratory-based research collaboration. Patients, Participants Ninety-six palatal casts from 32 patients with unilateral CLP (UCLP), aged from birth to 1 year. Interventions All casts were digitized using both instruments. Surface area and volumetric measurements were obtained following validated protocols. Main Outcome Measure(s) Operator reliability and interinstrument reproducibility were assessed using the technical error of measurement (TEM), relative TEM (rTEM), percentage error variance, and Student's t -test. Results Both surface area and volumetric measurements showed high operator reliability, with low TEM values and error variances below 2%. Surface area measurements demonstrated good agreement between the systems. In contrast, volumetric measurements differed significantly between instruments, indicating limited interinstrument reproducibility. Conclusions Surface measurements are consistent across different acquisition systems and are suitable for multicenter and longitudinal studies. In contrast, volumetric measurements are significantly influenced by the acquisition device, highlighting the need for consistent instrumentation when comparing volumetric data in clinical settings.