title: Radiographic alveolar bone change as an outcome measure for therapies that inhibit bone loss or foster bone gain.
abstract: Periodontal clinical trials rely on signs of gingival inflammation, periodontal probing methods, and intra-oral radiographic methods to measure outcomes of therapies that inhibit bone loss or foster bone gain. A single radiograph can provide information on the accumulation of past disease, and sequential radiographs can determine regeneration or progression of periodontal destruction. However, the precision achieved with a radiograph is associated with the actual exposure of the film and the subsequent analysis. A film exposed using standardized geometry and standardized processing has many advantages over non-standardized conventional film. If the patient population for a study is a small, selective group, or if one needs to identify the smallest amount of bone loss in the shortest time, standardized films may be used. Conversely, in a large-scale trial, the use of standardized films may prove to be impractical. Since the advent of personal computer-based image-processing workstations, digital-image analysis has also become a practical tool for clinical trials. Digital subtraction radiography is a highly precise and accurate technique for assessing bony changes associated with periodontal disease. Therefore, advanced digital-imaging systems may be more cost-effective in a clinical trial because the level of precision will have an effect on study length and sample size.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama, 1530 3rd Avenue South, SDB 412, Birmingham, AL 35294-0007, USA. mreddy@uab.edu
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Reddy
mesh_terms: D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D016477:Artifacts; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003287:Contrast Media; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000628:therapy*; D011861:Radiography, Dental / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media