OWN - Quintessenz Verlags-GmbH CI - Copyright Quintessenz Verlags-GmbH OCI - Copyright Quintessenz Verlags-GmbH TA - JT - Journal of Aligner Orthodontics IS - 2514-7560 (Electronic) IS - 2514-7552 (Print) IP - 1 VI - 6 PST - ppublish DP - 2022 PG - 9-16 LA - en TI - Analysis of the effects of orthodontic treatment on Instagram posts using artificial intelligence FAU - Parrini, Simone AU - Parrini S FAU - Mazzucco, Letizia AU - Mazzucco L FAU - Nebiolo, Bianca AU - Nebiolo B FAU - Domini, Maria Chiara AU - Domini M FAU - Cugliari, Giovanni AU - Cugliari G FAU - Rossini, Gabriele AU - Rossini G FAU - Deregibus, Andrea AU - Deregibus A FAU - Castroflorio, Tommaso AU - Castroflorio T CN - OT - aesthetics OT - aligners OT - artificial intelligence OT - orthodontics OT - self-esteem OT - social media AB - Objectives: Social media is a crowded space and posting images and photographs is an effective way to capture attention. People share photos, videos and ideas in order to convey a particular image of themselves to others. Orthodontic treatment can have a significant impact on patients’ lives and could therefore affect the content they share on social networks. The present study aimed to use artificial intelligence to analyse photographs posted on the social media platform Instagram (San Francisco, CA, USA) by orthodontic patients treated with clear aligners. Materials and methods: A total of 20 consecutive patients treated with clear aligners and with a public profile on Instagram were enrolled in the study. All photographs posted by each subject on their Instagram account were collected and evaluated at three time points: during the 6 months prior to the start of orthodontic treatment (T1), over the course of treatment (T2) and during the 6 months after removal of the aligners (T3). A total of 2676 images were collected and each one was analysed using facial recognition software (Amazon Rekognition, Amazon, Seattle, WA, USA). Results: Significant differences were found when analysing the presence of the patient in the images posted at the different time points; if compared to T1, patients occupied a larger area of their photos at T3 (P = 0.0032). Regarding the reliability of the artificial intelligence software, no statistically significant differences were found between the human and software analyses. Conclusion: Orthodontic treatment could have positive effects on patients’ perceived well-being and self-esteem, increasing their degree of openness and personal exposure to others. AID - 2842591