Preliminary results of a study comparing conventional radiography with phase-contrast radiography for assessing root morphology of mandibular third molars.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of phase-contrast radiography for assessing root morphology of mandibular third molars in comparison with conventional radiography.


METHODS
We studied 37 extracted mandibular third molars. One oral surgeon compared the number of roots and root curvature of the extracted teeth on conventional radiographs with those on phase-contrast images.


RESULTS
The number of roots and root curvature on conventional images differed significantly from those on phase-contrast images.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest the possibility that phase-contrast radiography is more useful than conventional radiography for assessing the root morphology of mandibular third molars.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Saitama Medical University, 38 Moro-hongou, Moroyama-machi, Iruma-gun, Tokyo 350-0495, Japan. tsato@saitama-med.ac.jp
T
T
Sato
N
N
Nakamoto
T
T
Abe
Y
Y
Fukushima
Y
Y
Tomaru
Y
Y
Sakata
M
M
Nakazawa
A
A
Nakamoto
H
H
Kawasaki
Y
Y
Wada
H
H
Ohara
R
R
Araki
J
J
Tanaka
T
T
Yoda
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D011861:Radiography, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
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