Radiographic detection of artificially created horizontal root fracture using different cone beam CT units with small fields of view.

OBJECTIVES

To compare limited cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) units with different field of views (FOVs) and voxel sizes in detecting artificially created horizontal root fracture (HRF) in extracted human teeth.

METHODS

Artificial HRF was created in the horizontal plane in 40 teeth. Another 40 intact teeth served as a control group. 80 teeth were placed in the respective maxillary anterior sockets of a human dry skull in groups. Six image sets were obtained: (1) Accuitomo 170, 40 × 40 mm FOV (0.080 mm(3)); (2) Accuitomo 170, 60 × 60 mm FOV (0.125 mm(3)); (3) Kodak 9000, 50 × 37 mm FOV (0.076 mm(3)); (4) Kodak 9000, 50 × 37 mm FOV (0.100 mm(3)); (5) Vatech Pax-Duo3D 50 × 50 mm FOV (0.080 mm(3)) and (6) Vatech Pax-Duo3D 85 × 85 mm FOV (0.120 mm(3)). Images were evaluated twice by five observers. Kappa values were calculated for observer agreement. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (Az values) were calculated, and the Az values for each image type were compared using t-tests (α = 0.05).

RESULTS

Intraobserver kappa coefficients ranged from 0.81 to 0.95 for the Accuitomo 170 images, from 0.80 to 0.92 for the Kodak 9000 images and from 0.76 to 0.95 for Vatech PanX-Duo3D. The Az values for different image types and observers ranged from 0.93 to 0.97 for Accuitomo 170 images, from 0.93 to 0.98 for Kodak 9000 images and from 0.93 to 0.97 for the Vatech PanX-Duo3D images. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were found between the Az values.

CONCLUSIONS

Limited CBCT units performed similarly in detecting simulated HRF.