<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<italic>Aims:</italic> The aim of the present study was to compare diagnostic assessments of anterior tooth and bone status in a randomised cohort of pre-orthodontic patients using panoramic and periapical radiographs.
<italic>Method:</italic> Four hundred and forty-four cases with matched periapical and panoramic radiographs were examined by three observers. Two were final-year postgraduate endodontic students and the other, a final-year Honours degree dental student. Multi-rater Kappa values were used to assess the reliability of the observers, with a value of 1 equating to complete agreement.
<italic>Results:</italic> With the exception of endodontic Class 1 and 2 palatal invaginations, reliability exceeded 0.95 for all three observers. An assessment of the graduate endodontic students revealed only a marginal increase in the kappa values. Statistical analysis (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) determined that developmental anomalies or tooth/bone pathoses were more reliably detected by observers using periapical radiographs compared with panoramic films. This finding has relevance given the likelihood of anterior dental trauma among young children.
<italic>Conclusion:</italic> While there have been considerable improvements in the quality of dental panoramic radiography, the present study indicated that a reliable pre-orthodontic or post-trauma diagnostic assessment should include both panoramic and intra-oral radiographs.
</abstract>

Aims: The aim of the present study was to compare diagnostic assessments of anterior tooth and bone status in a randomised cohort of pre-orthodontic patients using panoramic and periapical radiographs.
Method: Four hundred and forty-four cases with matched periapical and panoramic radiographs were examined by three observers. Two were final-year postgraduate endodontic students and the other, a final-year Honours degree dental student. Multi-rater Kappa values were used to assess the reliability of the observers, with a value of 1 equating to complete agreement.
Results: With the exception of endodontic Class 1 and 2 palatal invaginations, reliability exceeded 0.95 for all three observers. An assessment of the graduate endodontic students revealed only a marginal increase in the kappa values. Statistical analysis (p < 0.05) determined that developmental anomalies or tooth/bone pathoses were more reliably detected by observers using periapical radiographs compared with panoramic films. This finding has relevance given the likelihood of anterior dental trauma among young children.
Conclusion: While there have been considerable improvements in the quality of dental panoramic radiography, the present study indicated that a reliable pre-orthodontic or post-trauma diagnostic assessment should include both panoramic and intra-oral radiographs.

A comparative diagnostic assessment of anterior tooth and bone status using panoramic and periapical radiography

Australasian Orthodontic Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to compare diagnostic assessments of anterior tooth and bone status in a randomised cohort of pre-orthodontic patients...

A comparative diagnostic assessment of anterior tooth and bone status using panoramic and periapical radiography

Published Online: Aug 01, 2023

Page range: 162 - 168

Received: Jul 01, 2011

Accepted: Oct 01, 2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoj-2011-0021

© 2011 Tina Le et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.