|
| Pre-established Characteristics | Score |
|
| 1. Adequacy of sample selection description based on age and sex across the groups | Full: 2 points; partial: 1 point |
| 2. Study design for the inclusion of the treated group | Prospective: 1 point; retrospective or not declared: 0 points |
| 3. Description of the Class III (full, skeletal, and/or dental parameters; partial, only dental parameters) | Full: 2 points; partial: 1 point |
| 4. Distribution of the different maturational stages among the investigated subjects | Full: 2 points; partial: 1 point |
| 5. Adequacy of treatment description based on three criteria: (a) orthodontic appliance; (b) description of TADs and their placement (miniscrews, miniplates); (c) treatment duration | Full: 2 points; partial: 1 point |
| 6. Withdrawals declared or derivable | No/yes: 1 point; not declared: 0 points |
| 7. Description of the method error analysis | Yes: 2 points; no: 0 points |
| 8. Blinding for measurements | Yes: 1 point; no: 0 points |
| 9. Adequacy of statistics based on the comparisons of the intragroup changes over time among/between groups (yes, when parametric or nonparametric tests used where appropriate; no, when parametric tests used when nonparametric tests would be more appropriate, multiple comparisons with uncorrected P values, statistical analysis only partially described) | Yes: 2 points, no: 1 points |
| 10. Prior estimation of sample size or a posteriori power analysis | Yes: 1 point, no: 0 points |
|
