Anatomical assessment of the trabecular structure of the alveolar bone in periodontal disease by fractal analysis method.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis and treatment of periodontitis, which can cause loss of bone support of the teeth, is of great importance. The use of fractal analysis method is being investigated in order to differentiate periodontal disease radiographically. Fractal analysis presents the degree of complexity in the structure of fractal objects as a numerical data, and has been used to measure changes in trabecular bone. The aim of this study was to compare the trabecular bone fractal dimension (FD) values of patients with periodontitis and gingivitis using panoramic radiographs, and to evaluate the possible relationship between age and gender with fractal dimension.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Panoramic radiographs of 64 patients with gingivitis and 64 patients with periodontitis were evaluated retrospectively in the study. Using the radiographs of the patients, FD values measured from the trabecular bone were calculated with the box-counting method in the Image J programme. The FD values of both groups were compared. In addition, the relationship between age and gender parameters and FD values was evaluated within the groups.

RESULTS: According to the results of the study, the calculated average FD value of the patients in the gingivitis group was 1.195, while the calculated average FD value of the patients in the periodontitis group was 1.196. No statistically significant difference was observed between the FD values of the gingivitis group and the periodontitis group (p > 0.05). No statistically significant correlation was observed between FD values and age and gender (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant results were obtained for the calculated mean FD values of the patients in the gingivitis and periodontitis groups.