Influence of CBCT Different Radiation Doses on Mandibular Soft Tissue Thickness Measurements
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Abstract
Purposes: 1. Study the influence of changing CBCT radiation doses (using ultra low dose and high dose systems) on soft tissues thickness measurements and compare the results with the direct measurements method.2. Compare the influence of this change in the CBCT radiation doses on the hard tissues measurements
Methods: 9 fresh pig mandiblue were utilized for each of two CBCT scan systems (Planmeca Promax 3D MID). Nine disposable needles were inserted into the gingival tissue of each jaw until reaching resistance from the underlying bone. A mark on each needle at its entrance point into the soft tissue was created using a permanent marker. Jaws were scanned twice, using ultra low (Rad UL) and high (Rad H) exposure times. The needles were extruded, and an electronic caliper was used to measure the length of the penetrated portion of the needle in mm. Radiographic GT was measured on cross sectional images, produced in the axial direction of the 3D location of the needles. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 16 ® (Statistical Package for Scientific Studies), Graph pad prism & windows excel and presented in 3 tables and 2 graphs. Exploration of the given data was performed using Shapiro-Wilk test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality which revealed that data originated from normal data distribution. Accordingly, comparison between different groups was performed by Repeated measures ANOVA test followed by Tukey`s Post Hoc test for multiple comparison. The significance level was set at p ≤0.05.
Results: The Real Measurement group (8.61 ±1.90) was significantly the highest, then the High-Definition group (7.22 ± 2.27), while the Low-Definition group (6.99 ± 2.15) was significantly the highest with P= 0.02.In Pairwise comparison between the Real Measurement group and the High-Definition group revealed insignificant difference as P= 0.062 • Comparison between the Real Measurement group and the Low-Definition group revealed significant difference between them as P=0.08 • Comparison between the High-Definition group and the Low-Definition group revealed insignificant difference between them as p-value = 0.8574.
Conclusions: Reducing CBCT radiation may be possible without affecting accuracy of radiographic gingival thickness measurements, thus opening the way to a wider utilization of CBCT in dentistry. Clinical relevance: Reducing radiation dose may enable a wider utilization of CBCT in dentistry.