Assessment of the Naso-Maxilla and Related Dentoalveolar Region with Cone Beam Computed Tomography.

PURPOSE: To evaluate via CBCT the anatomical variations of the maxillary teeth and associated major anatomical cavities, the maxillary sinus and nasal fossa. MATERIAL AND METHODS: CBCT scans of 221 patients were used to examine maxillary sinus variations, the posterior superior alveolar artery (PSAA) course, nasal septum variations, middle and inferior concha-meatus variations, canalis sinuosus, infraorbital ethmoid cell, infraorbital canal, anterior nasal spina, and nasopalatine canal. RESULTS: The incidence of anatomical variations was 32.6% for maxillary sinus septa, 50.9% for PSAA, 23.1% for nasal septum deviation, 6.3% for nasal septum spur and pneumatization, 3.6% for paradoxical middle concha, 14.9% for middle concha hypertrophy, 39.6% for middle concha bullosa, 0.45% for bifid inferior concha, 0.9% for paradoxical inferior concha, 60.1% for inferior conch hypertrophy, 1.8% for inferior concha bullosa, and 40.3% for the infraorbital ethmoid cell. The study mainly observed group 2 anterior nasal spina with a rate of 35.7%, group 1 nasopalatine canal with a rate of 37.1%, and infraorbital duct type 2 with a rate of 70%. In 20.4% and 47% of cases, canalis sinuosus was located in the right and left sides of the maxilla, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Maxillary sinus variations, PSAA prevalence and localization, nasal septum and concha variations, anterior nasal spina subgroups, nasopalatine canal subgroups, canalis sinuosus prevalence, and localization and infraorbital ethmoid cell prevalence were found to be consistent with the literature. Moreover, a rare case of the lower bifid concha was identified. The nasomaxillary complex and related dental structures, which are a multidisciplinary study area, should be carefully examined in the presence of pain of unknown origin and the planning of surgical procedures.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Artificial Intelligence Models for Detecting Alveolar Bone Loss in Periodontal Disease: A Panoramic Radiograph Study.

The assessment of alveolar bone loss, a crucial element of the periodontium, plays a vital role in the diagnosis of periodontitis and the prognosis of the disease. In dentistry, artificial intelligence (AI) applications have demonstrated practical and efficient diagnostic capabilities, leveraging machine learning and cognitive problem-solving functions that mimic human abilities. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of AI models in identifying alveolar bone loss as present or absent across different regions. To achieve this goal, alveolar bone loss models were generated using the PyTorch-based YOLO-v5 model implemented via CranioCatch software, detecting periodontal bone loss areas and labeling them using the segmentation method on 685 panoramic radiographs. Besides general evaluation, models were grouped according to subregions (incisors, canines, premolars, and molars) to provide a targeted evaluation. Our findings reveal that the lowest sensitivity and F1 score values were associated with total alveolar bone loss, while the highest values were observed in the maxillary incisor region. It shows that artificial intelligence has a high potential in analytical studies evaluating periodontal bone loss situations. Considering the limited amount of data, it is predicted that this success will increase with the provision of machine learning by using a more comprehensive data set in further studies.

Radiological evaluation of maxillofacial soft tissue calcifications with cone beam computed tomography and panoramic radiography.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to present the radiologic characteristics of maxillofacial soft tissue calcifications with a comparison of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and panoramic radiography (PR) findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was based on CBCT images obtained for different purposes between October 2017 and September 2018. The absence, location and radiological characteristics of some calcifications were evaluated in 252 patients. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 21.0; P < .05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS: Palatine tonsilloliths were the most common calcifications in our study. Calcifications were most frequent in the sixth decade of life. Women had larger calcifications than men. There was a relationship between the sizes measured by CBCT and PR for tonsilloliths. In PR, Region 2 had significantly more calcifications compared with the other regions. The C2 vertebral level was the most common region for tonsilloliths based on CBCT. CONCLUSIONS: Tonsilloliths have a high prevalence. The regular peripheral type had a higher risk of being a tonsillolith in PR. The peripheral/internal characteristics and the dimensions of calcifications between the two imaging modalities were in harmony. The location of calcification in PR and CBCT was important to distinguish the type of calcification.

The Appearance of The Infraorbital Canal and Infraorbital Ethmoid (Haller's) Cells on Panoramic Radiography of Edentulous Patients.

Objectives. The aim of the study is to detect the prevalence and the characteristics of infraorbital canal and Haller's cells on panoramic radiography of edentulous patients. Methods. The study group comprised 291 panoramic radiographs of edentulous patients. Radiographs were interpreted for the visibility and characteristics of infraorbital canal and Haller's cells. For classification of infraorbital canal, a method based on the image characteristics of the border of the canal (Types I, II, and III) was used. Haller's cells were grouped according to the number and the shape of loculations. Results. Infraorbital canal was observed in 246 (84.6%) radiographs. The most prevalent of the observed canals were Type III for both sides (39.9 % for right and 32.3% for left side). The visibility of Haller's cells was 23.7%. The frequencies of Haller's cells' visibility were approximately equal for both genders. There is no significant difference between genders for the visibility of infraorbital canal and Haller's cells. Conclusions. The surgeons, implantologists, and radiologists should take into consideration infraorbital canal and Haller's cell for planning implant surgery of maxillary anterior region and undefined orofacial pain for edentulous patients.

The effects of compression on the image quality of digital panoramic radiographs.

Size reduction through compression is an important issue that needs to be investigated for possible effects on image quality. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the subjective image quality of digital panoramic radiographs which were lossless and lossy compressed for the visualization of various anatomical structures. Fifty-five digital panoramic radiographs in Tagged Image File Format (Tiff) were used in the study. Two types of lossy (Joint Photographic Experts Group (Jpeg)) and one type of lossless (Lempel-Ziv-Welch) compression were applied to the original radiographs. These radiographs were evaluated by two observers separately for the visibility of some anatomical structures with visual grading. Mean quality number for each radiograph was obtained. The differences between the mean quality numbers in each compression and original image mode were evaluated with Friedman test. Pair-wise comparisons revealed that there were statistically significant differences between all groups (p = 0.000) for all comparisons except for Jpeg_1 and Jpeg_2 groups. Kappa statistics was used to evaluate inter- and intra-observer agreements. Intra-observer agreements were ranging from 0.229 to 1.000 and inter-observer agreements were ranging from 0.154 to 1.000. The observers had better inter- and intra-observer agreements in highly compressed Jpeg_1 images. The anatomical structures evaluated in this study had better visibility in Tiff images than Jpeg images except for mandibular canal and mental foramen. While Jpeg compressed images offer high inter- and intra-observer agreements, the visibility of anatomical structures are better in Tiff images except for mandibular canal and mental foramen.

Alveolar bone changes under overhanging restorations.

The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the trabecular architecture of the alveolar bone beneath overhanging restorations with bitewing radiographs in patients having no radiographically visible vertical bone loss. Twenty-eight digital bitewing radiographs with overhanging restorations and 28 digital bitewing radiographs without any restorations belonging to the contralateral side of the same patient were included in the study. Regions of interests (ROI) were created in the alveolar bone along the interproximal regions. These ROIs were segmented to binary images with ImageJ, and, within these binary images, the number of radiographically visible trabecular bone islands per unit area was counted; in addition, the Feret diameter and fractal dimension (FD) were measured. It was found that the mean number of objects per unit area was statistically different in alveolar bone with overhanging restorations from control sites (p < 0.0001). However, the FeD (p = 0.179) and FD (p = 0.963) did not show statistically significant differences between alveolar bone with and without overhanging restorations.

Osteosarcoma: a case report.

Although osteosarcoma of the head and neck is a relatively rare disease, it is a highly malignant bone tumor. Diagnosis of the tumor is important especially in early stages for improving prognosis. The patients with orofacial pain firstly prefer to go to dentists. Such kind of pain may be associated with an oral or maxillofacial cancer. The dentists must be careful for evaluating the clinical and radiologic clues. These clues determine the biopsy necessity, type and management plan. The aim of this case presentation is to emphasize the importance of dentists on diagnosis and prognosis of oral malignancies.