Evaluation of interdental distance of natural teeth with cone-beam computerized tomography

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the interdental distances of anterior, premolar, and molar teeth at the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) and 2 mm below the CEJ in healthy natural dentition with cone-beam computerized tomography (cone-beam CT) in order to provide valuable data for ideal implant positioning relative to mesiodistal bone dimensions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred patients who visited Dental Hospital, Wonkwang University, who had natural dentition with healthy interdental papillae, and who underwent cone-beam CT were selected. The cone-beam CT images were converted to digital imaging and communication in medicine (DICOM) files and reconstructed in three-dimensional images. To standardize the cone-beam CT images, head reorientation was performed. All of the measurements were determined on the reconstructed panoramic images by three professionally trained dentists. RESULTS: At the CEJ, the mean maxillary interdental distances were 1.84 mm (anterior teeth), 2.07 mm (premolar), and 2.08 mm (molar), and the mean mandibular interproximal distances were 1.55 mm (anterior teeth), 2.20 mm (premolar), and 2.36 mm (molar). At 2mm below the CEJ, the mean maxillary interdental distances were 2.19 mm (anterior teeth), 2.51 mm (premolar), and 2.60 mm (molar), and the mean mandibular interproximal distances were 1.86 mm (anterior teeth), 2.53 mm (premolar), and 3.01 mm (molar). CONCLUSION: The interdental distances in the natural dentition were larger at the posterior teeth than at the anterior teeth and also at 2 mm below the CEJ level compared with at the CEJ level. The distances between mandibular incisors were the narrowest and the distances between mandibular molars were the widest in the entire dentition.