Radiographic ratios for classifying furcation anatomy: proposal of a new evaluation method and an intra-rater and inter-rater operator reliability study

OBJECTIVES: Even if it seems to be an important anatomical parameter for tissue regeneration, few studies in literature evaluate the “mean measure” of root divergence. Most of them are linear measurements, which hardly describe the dental furcation conformation in its entirety. It is left to the subjectivity of the operator deciding whether a furcation is convergent or divergent. The goal of this study is to create a visual evaluation method using specific measurements applied on endo-oral X-rays to overcome these problems, giving a conformation of the entire interradicular space and its divergence. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A user-friendly software (Paint®, Windows10®) was used to take three different measurements on endo-oral radiographs of upper and lower molars. Three blind operators measured 20 radiographs, to analyze the intra- and inter-operator reproducibility of the measurements. Then, the technique was repeated on 250 radiographic images to identify an average value and define a main conformation of the interradicular space. The ratio of these three measurements allowed to develop a new visual evaluation method of the interradicular space. RESULTS: Intra and inter-operator reproducibility was statistically confirmed on a sample of 20 anonymous endo-oral radiographs measured by 3 blind operators, indicating that the measurement technique was not operator dependent. Measurement made on 250 X-rays obtained with this technique permitted to subdivide in five groups the conformation of the interradicular space and define a mean value of the interradicular space. CONCLUSIONS: A new anatomical evaluation of the interradicular space in its entirety, which could help the clinicians in diagnostic and decisional phase in the therapy of furcated molars, can be obtained. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A pre-operative evaluation of interradicular space conformation could affect therapy treatment choice.