Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41501754›Full record

ArticleBMC oral health2026

Accuracy of dentalmonitoring's artificial intelligence in detecting aligner tracking issues: a retrospective multi-centric study.

Julie Fahl McCray, William Dabney, Dylan Handlin, Logan Smith, Jessie Zhu, Maria Roxas Regina Trinidad, Naurine Shah, Sarah Zaki, Rayan Skafi, Mohammed H Elnagar

Abstract readMulticenter StudyComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC oral health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Julie Fahl McCrayDepartment of orthodontics, Center of Advanced Dental Education, Saint-Louis University, 3320 Rutger St., St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA.
William Dabney, 304 Browns Hill Court, Midlothian, VA, 23114, USA.
Dylan HandlinDepartment of orthodontics, Center of Advanced Dental Education, Saint-Louis University, 3320 Rutger St., St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA.
Logan SmithDepartment of orthodontics, Center of Advanced Dental Education, Saint-Louis University, 3320 Rutger St., St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA.
Jessie ZhuDepartment of orthodontics, Center of Advanced Dental Education, Saint-Louis University, 3320 Rutger St., St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA.
Maria Roxas Regina TrinidadDepartment of orthodontics, Center of Advanced Dental Education, Saint-Louis University, 3320 Rutger St., St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA.
Naurine ShahDepartment of orthodontics, University of Alabama, School Of Dentistry, Rm. 406, 1919 7th Ave. S., Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA.
Sarah ZakiDepartment of orthodontics, Center of Advanced Dental Education, Saint-Louis University, 3320 Rutger St., St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA.
Rayan Skafi, DentalMonitoring, Paris, France.
Mohammed H ElnagarDepartment of Orthodontics (M/C 841), College of Dentistry, University of Illinois Chicago, 801 S. Paulina Street, RM 131, Chicago, IL, 60612-7211, USA. melnagar@uic.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThis study aimed to test the performance of DentalMonitoring's (DM) artificial intelligence (AI) in detecting aligner tracking issues.

methodsThis multicenter retrospective comparative study analyzed 3,323 assessments from 623 patients treated at multiple U.S. sites. DM's AI performance was evaluated using a binary model (seated vs. unseated) and a three-level model (seated, slight unseat, noticeable unseat). AI outputs were compared against a reference standard established through independent case reviews performed by a panel of three U.S.-based orthodontic residents. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated.

resultsFor the binary comparison (seat vs. unseat), sensitivity was 93.2% and specificity 86.2%, with a PPV of 89.2% and an NPV of 94.4%. For the three-level comparison, the noticeable-unseat category demonstrated a sensitivity of 91.1% and a specificity of 90.5%, with a PPV of 66.1% and an NPV of 98.3%. The high NPV values across both models indicate that DM's AI was particularly reliable in ruling out clinically meaningful unseat events. The lower PPV in the noticeable-unseat category reflects the low prevalence of noticeable unseats in the dataset.

conclusionDM's AI system demonstrated high sensitivity and negative predictive values in identifying unseat events and in differentiating noticeable from slight unseats within the positive subset. These results indicate that the model performed reliably within the parameters and dataset evaluated, particularly in minimizing false-negative assessments of clinically meaningful misfits. Further validation in independent cohorts and across broader clinical contexts is warranted to confirm generalizability.

Indexed as

Artificial IntelligenceTooth Movement TechniquesHumansIntelligent SystemsRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and Specificity

Identifiers

PMID41501754
PMCPMC12870334

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.