title: Reliability of horizontal and vertical tube shift techniques in the localisation of supernumerary teeth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the reliability of the vertical tube shift technique (VTST) and horizontal tube shift technique (HTST) for the localisation of unerupted supernumerary teeth (ST) in the anterior region of the maxilla.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convenience sample of 83 patients who attended a major teaching hospital because of unerupted ST was selected. Only non-syndromic patients with ST and who had complete clinical and radiographic and surgical records were included in the study. Ten examiners independently rated the paired set of radiographs for each technique. Chi-square test, paired t test and kappa statistics were employed to assess the intra- and inter-examiner reliability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Paired sets of 1660 radiographs (830 pairs for each technique) were available for the analysis. The overall sensitivity for VTST and HTST was 80.6 and 72.1% respectively, with slight inter-examiner and good intra-examiner reliability. Statistically significant differences were evident between the two localisation techniques (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Localisation of unerupted ST using VTST was more successful than HTST in the anterior region of the maxilla.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Narayana Dental College and Hospital, Nellore, AP, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mallineni
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, The University of Western Australia, 17 Monash Avenue, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia. robert.anthonappa@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Anthonappa
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, The University of Western Australia, 17 Monash Avenue, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital / Q000379:methods*; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019228:Tooth Crown / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014096:Tooth, Supernumerary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014097:Tooth, Unerupted / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
keywords: Localisation; Radiographs; Supernumerary teeth