Evaluating accuracy and reliability of mobile apps for cervical vertebral maturation staging in orthodontics: a pilot study

Aim This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the Easy Age mobile application (app) for cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) staging. The app's results were compared with assessments by an experienced orthodontist, and inter-observer reliability was analysed among dental students using various mobile operating systems (OS).Materials and methods A total of 200 lateral cephalograms, representing all stages of cervical maturation, were retrospectively collected and analysed. Eight dental students used the Easy Age app on both Apple iOS and Android OS platforms. The accuracy of the app's classifications was assessed by comparing them with the gold standard assessments conducted by an orthodontist using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Inter-observer reliability among the students was evaluated using Cohen's kappa.Results The app demonstrated high accuracy, with an ICC of 0.955, indicating almost perfect agreement with the main observer. Inter-observer reliability among the students was moderate, with an average kappa value of 0.560 +/- 0.048. An OS-specific analysis revealed variations between Apple iOS and Android OS users.Conclusion The Easy Age app is an accurate and reliable tool for CVM staging, providing an alternative to traditional methods. However, OS-specific discrepancies suggest a need for further calibration to ensure consistent reliability.