Developing, optimizing and updating an intelligent software for treatment planning of removable partial dentures

A large number of software programs have been used in dentistry for diagnosis and treatment planning to date. However, due to promotion of programming languages and developments in dental sciences, it is necessary to develop and update these softwares. Use of softwares for treatment planning for removable partial dentures has been popular for some time and always new softwares have been introduced to solve the problems of previous softwares. The aim of this project was to develop, optimize and update a software program for treatment planning with an easy and user-friendly appearance to solve the problems of previous softwares based on opinion polls.
In this applied study, carried out in 2014, the basic principles of designing removable partial based on the latest edition of McCracken's Removable Partial Prosthodontics textbook (2011) as a reference as well as the opinions of prosthodontics professors of Medical Sciences Universities in Iran and an algorithm was prepared to achieve the best treatment plan. The software program was produced using Basic programming language in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 environment. For assessment of the software, 40 cases of the most common partial edentulous cases were tested with the software and the results were compared with the reference textbook and the opinion of the university professors.
Of 40 cases tested by the software, 36 treatment plans conformed to the principles suggested by the reference textbook and the opinions of university professors.
Based on the results of this study, the accuracy of 90% of the treatment plans were confirmed, indicating the efficacy of this software. However, the remaining 10% show the need for optimizing the software in future, which can be implemented by revising the software to achieve higher efficacy.