Comparison of film, direct digital, and tuned-aperture computed tomography images to identify the location of crestal defects around endosseous titanium implants

• Published in: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology, oral radiology and endodontics Vol. 81; no. 4; pp. 480 - 490
• Main Authors: Webber, Richard L., Horton, Roger A., Underhill, Thomas E., Ludlow, John B., Tyndall, Donald A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: St. Louis, MO Mosby, Inc 01.04.1996; Elsevier
• Subjects: Alveolar Bone Loss - diagnostic imaging; Alveolar Bone Loss - etiology; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Dental Implantation, Endosseous - adverse effects; Dental Implants - adverse effects; Humans; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Mandible - diagnostic imaging; Medical sciences; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology. Orbit; Prosthesis Failure; Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry; Radiographic Image Enhancement - instrumentation; Radiography, Dental - instrumentation; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - instrumentation; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; Performance evaluation; Mandible; Radiodiagnosis; Implant; Substance loss; Alveolar bone; Tridimensional tomography; In vitro; Radiography; Numerical aperture; Titanium; Medical imagery; Diagnosis; Bone; Technique; Digital radiography; Comparative study
• ISSN: 1079-2104; 1528-395X
• DOI: 10.1016/S1079-2104(96)80029-1

This study compared diagnostic performance obtained from two-dimensional and three-dimensional x-ray images. The latter were produced with a new tomosynthetic method based on aperture theory called tuned-aperture computed tomography. Seven human cadaver mandibular segments containing a total of 20 endosseous implants with a small randomly positioned alveolar crestal defect at each implant site were imated in two dimensions with periapicai film and with a charge-coupled digital detector, and digitally with the same detector in three dimensions with tuned-aperture computed tomography and subtracted tuned-aperture computed tomography techniques. Seven trained dentists viewed randomized displays of all modalities. Outcomes of the diagnostic task of identifying the locations of crestal defects were quantified with accuracy, confidence, and time performance measures. Analyses of variance demonstrated that differences between either three-dimensional technique and either two-dimensional modality were significant for all measures ( p<0.001). These findings suggest that clinically applied TACT methods hold promise as an improvement over the status quo.