title: In Vitro Detection of Dental Root Fractures with Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Since the diagnosis of non-displaced longitudinal fractures present difficulties for the dentist, three-dimensional evaluation is necessary.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to demonstrate the accuracy of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in detecting dental root fractures in vitro.
  
  
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Yeditepe University Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erdogan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fisekcioglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Yeditepe University Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Semanur
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dolekoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Yeditepe University Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilguy
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Yeditepe University Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nilufer
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ersan
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Yeditepe University Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Dilhan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ilguy
keywords: Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; In Vitro; Tooth Fractures