ABSTRACT
If root fractures remain undetected, pulp necrosis will occur in 25% of cases leading to eventual tooth loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of digital phosphor plates using pseudo-color enhancement for detection of horizontal root fractures in single-rooted teeth. Eighty-two human single-rooted teeth were evaluated [41 with no horizontal fracture and 41 with horizontal fractures]. Digital intraoral imaging plate system. [Digora[registered sign] Optime PSP System, Soredex] was used to obtain 16-bit gray scale images. Five 16-bit images were obtained from each specimen and saved [one original and four with pseudo-color enhancement]. Four observers evaluated the images twice with a 2- week interval. Accuracy, positive predictive value [PPV], negative predictive value [NPV], specificity and sensitivity for each observer and each image group were calculated. The diagnostic sensitivities were not significantly different among the five images [P absolute=0.125, P complete=0.170]. But, statistically significant differences were found in the diagnostic specificity [P absolute=0.019, P complete=0.016] among the five views. Cool and Summer views had higher diagnostic specificity than Bone, Copper and Original views [P=0.025]. Kappa and Weighted Kappa values showed statistically significant differences for intra- and inter-observer reliability in the five views [P=0.032]. Both Cool and Summer views were suitable for detection of horizontal root fractures and had statistically significant differences with the original view