Comparison of digital with conventional radiography in detection of vertical root fractures in endodontically treated maxillary premolars: an ex vivo study.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to compare the diagnostic ability of conventional intraoral film radiography and a charged-coupled device (CCD) sensor in detecting vertical root fractures (VRF) in endodontically treated single-rooted extracted human maxillary premolars.


METHODS
The study consisted of 60 extracted single-rooted endodontically treated maxillary premolars: 30 with clinically confirmed VRF (experimental group) and 30 with no VRF (control group). An intraoral CCD sensor and conventional Kodak Insight Film were used. Two observers evaluated the digital and conventional radiographs twice with an interval of 4 weeks. Specificity and sensitivity for each radiographic technique were calculated and subjected to statistical analysis. Kappa values were calculated for intra- and interobserver agreement. Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate detection of VRF. The overall differences in sensitivity and specificity between radiographic techniques were evaluated by McNemar test.


RESULTS
The specificity of the digital system was significantly better (P = .016) for the second observer at the first reading. There were no significant differences in sensitivity and specificity for both observers between the 2 systems for other readings (P > .05).


CONCLUSIONS
No difference was found between the intraoral CCD sensor and conventional radiography in detecting vertical root fractures for single rooted maxillary premolars ex vivo.
Tsesis
Igor
I
Department of Endodontology, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. igri@bezeqint.net
Kamburoğlu
Kivanc
K
Katz
Alexander
A
Tamse
Aviad
A
Kaffe
Israel
I
Kfir
Anda
A
D001641:Bicuspid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008437:Maxilla; D015588:Observer Variation; D011861:Radiography, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000293:injuries; D019553:Tooth, Nonvital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014962:X-Ray Film; D014963:X-Ray Intensifying Screens