A Comparative Study of Spiral Tomograms with Different Slice Thicknesses in Dental Implant Planning

Yoon, Suk Ja

Abstract

PURPOSE: To know whether there would be a difference among spiral tomograms of different slice thicknesses in the measurement of distances which are used for dental implant planning.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
10 dry mandibules and 40 metal balls are used to take total 120 Scanora tomograms with the slice thickness of 2 mm, 4 mm and 8 mm. 3 oral radiologists interpreted each tomogram to measure the distances from the mandibular canal to the alveoalr crest and buccal, lingual and inferior borders of mandible. 3 observers recorded grades of 0, 1 or 2 to evaluate the perceptibility of alveolar crest and the superior border of mandibular canal. For statistical analysis, ANOVA with repeated measure, Chi-square tests and intraclass correlation coefficient(R2, alpha) were used.
RESULTS
There was not a statistically significant difference among spiral tomograms with different slice thicknesses in the measurement of the distances and in the perceptibility of alveolar crest and mandibular canal(p>0.05). All of them showed a good relationship in the reliability analysis. The perceptibility of alveolar crest and mandibular canal was almost similar and an excellent relationship was seen on all of them.
CONCLUSIONS
There would be no significant difference, no matter which spiral tomogram of any slice thickness may be used in dental implant planning, considering the thickness of dental implant fixture.