This study was performed to compare the accuracy of spiral computed tomography, digital radiography, conventional radiography and fiber optic transillumination for detecting simulated vertical root fractures with different thickness in extracted human teeth.
Sixty extracted human upper premolars were endodontically prepared and divided into three groups of 20 each. The teeth in all the groups were artificially fractured and fixed together with different thickness of 0.5mm, 1.0mm and < 0.5mm. The specimens were subjected to the spiral CT, digital radiography, conventional radiography, fiber optic transillumination and the obtained images were evaluated in terms of accuracy for vertical root fracture detection.
Results showed that the accuracy for the diagnosing of VRFs was significantly higher for the Spiral CT than the digital radiography, conventional radiography and transillumination.
Results showed that Spiral CT can be used for the diagnosing VRFs of different thickness.
Computed tomography, Vertical root fractures
