title: Validity of wax and acrylic as soft-tissue simulation materials used in in vitro radiographic studies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the thickness of wax and acrylic that provides a radiographic density similar to that of the human cheek.
  
  
  METHODS
  An intraoral film radiograph of the human cheek including a 40×30×3 mm reference aluminium block was recorded under standardized conditions in 61 subjects. Radiographic density was measured by a densitometer in ten randomly selected sites of the film to serve as the gold standard for density values of the cheek soft tissues. Thereafter, the density of series of radiographs of two tissue-simulating materials-wax and acrylic-in systematically increasing thicknesses (wax, 1.5-30 mm; acrylic, 2-40 mm) plus the reference block were measured and compared with the gold-standard values.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The radiographic density of wax with a thickness of 13-17 mm or acrylic with a thickness of 14.5 mm corresponded to the average density of the human cheek.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The soft tissues of the average human cheek can be simulated with 13-17 mm wax or 14.5 mm acrylic in in vitro radiographic studies.
authors.affiliation: Prosthetic Dentistry, Department of Dentistry, Aarhus University, Vennelyst Boulevard 9, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. lars.schropp@odontologi.au.dk
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schropp
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Alyass
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wenzel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stavropoulos
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D000328:Adult; D049628:Body Size; D002610:Cheek / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003720:Densitometry / Q000379:methods; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging / Q000592:standards*; D011859:Radiography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016300:Radiography, Bitewing / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013499:Surface Properties; D014885:Waxes / Q000737:chemistry*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D003764:Dental Materials; D014885:Waxes