In Vitro Detection of Dental Root Fractures with Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT)

BACKGROUND: Since the diagnosis of non-displaced longitudinal fractures present difficulties for the dentist, three-dimensional evaluation is necessary. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the accuracy of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in detecting dental root fractures in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An in vitro model consisting of 210 recently extracted human mandibular teeth was used. Root fractures were created by mechanical force. The teeth were placed randomly in the empty dental alveoli of a dry human mandible and 15 different dental arcs were created. Images were taken with a unit Iluma ultra cone-beam CT scanner (Imtec Corporation, Germany). Three dental radiologists separately evaluated the images. RESULTS: According to the fracture types and fracture presence, there was an overall statistically significant agreement between the key and readings. Kappa values for intra observer agreement ranged between 0.705 and 0.804 indicating that each observer gave acceptable ratings for the type and presence of fractures. CONCLUSIONS: Detailed information about root fractures may be obtained using CBCT.