Clinical Performance of Diagnostic Methods in Third Molar Teeth with Early Occlusal Caries.

The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of clinical visual examination (ICDAS II), digital periapical radiography (PR), near infrared light transillumination (NIR-LT), and laser fluorescence (LF) to microcomputed tomography (Micro-CT) which is the reference standard for the detection of non-cavitated occlusal enamel and dentin caries in third molar teeth. Potential participants were consecutively recruited. In this prospective study, 101 third molars of 101 patients were examined; the molars had non-cavitated occlusal caries which required extraction. ICDAS II, PR, NIR-LT and LF examinations were carried out by two blinded examiners. Reference standard was determined by micro-CT imaging seven days after extraction. Accuracy rate, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and areas under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (Az) were statistically analyzed. Nonparametric variables were subjected to the Kruskal−Wallis Test. Significance level was set as p < 0.05. NIR-LT had the highest sensitivity (99.67−99.67%) and accuracy (78.22−77.23%) for the determination of occlusal enamel caries according to examiners 1 and 2, respectively. LF method had the highest sensitivity (70.83−54.17%) and accuracy (66.34−59.41%) for determining occlusal dentin caries according to examiners 1 and 2, respectively. The ROC curve (Az) value ranged between 0.524 and 0.726 for the different methods tested. Most effective methods for the diagnosis of occlusal enamel and dentin caries were determined to be NIR-LT and LF pen methods, respectively. The present prospective clinical study showed that NIR-LT and LF-Pen were a reliable modality for the detection of occlusal enamel and dentin caries without ionizing radiation.

Guided bone regeneration simultaneous with implant placement using bovine-derived xenograft with and without liquid platelet-rich fibrin: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess augmentation success after guided bone regeneration (GBR) carried out simultaneously with implant placement using bovine-derived xenograft alone and in combination with liquid platelet-rich fibrin (liquid-PRF). METHODS: This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on patients with horizontal bone deficiency in the posterior regions of the mandible. After implant placement, GBR procedures were randomly performed using liquid-PRF-enriched bovine-derived xenograft (for the test group) and with bovine-derived xenograft alone (for the control group). To assess the change in augmentation thickness, the primary outcome of the study, cone beam computed tomography was carried out at the implant sites on completion and 6 months after surgery. The secondary outcomes were marginal bone level and implant survival rate at prosthetic delivery and at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years follow-up after loading. The significance level was set at p<0.05 for all analysis. RESULTS: Twenty patients with 50 implants were analyzed for the test group and 20 patients with 48 implants for the control group. At 6 months postoperatively, the mean values of augmentation thickness were 1.63 ± 0.21 mm, 2.59 ± 0.34 mm, and 3.11 ± 0.36 mm for the test group and 1.34 ± 0.14 mm, 2.49 ± 0.24 mm, and 2.97 ± 0.24 mm for the control group at 2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm below to the implant shoulder (p < 0.001, p = 0.007, and p = 0.036, respectively). The mean marginal bone loss was found to be less than 1 mm for both study groups during the 2 years of follow-up after prosthetic loading. Implant survival rate was 100% for both study groups. CONCLUSION: Bovine-derived xenograft alone and in combination with liquid-PRF are both successful in achieving bone augmentation around the implants and produce a small change in marginal bone level and a high implant survival rate after loading. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: There is a lack of evidence in the literature regarding the augmentation success of liquid-PRF used in combination with bone graft substitutes. This study indicates that liquid-PRF could be used as a supportive material with bovine-derived xenograft in GBR procedures carried out simultaneously with implant placement.

Successful dental implantation: evaluating the accuracy of horizontal and vertical measurements on panoramic radiographs using dental implants as reference objects.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to calculate the regional distortions in digital panoramic radiographs and to evaluate the accuracy of panoramic radiography in dental implant treatments. Also, the aim was to determine the vertical and horizontal distortion rate of digital panoramic device by using dental implants as reference objects. METHODS: A retrospective study was designed and implemented, based on the analysis of panoramic radiography records. Postoperative images of implant treatments which did not required bone augmentation procedures included in the study. Measurements were made on images of 554 implants placed, adjacent to at least one tooth in different regions of the jaws. The distortion rate was calculated by determining the ratio of the radiographic dimensions of the implants to the actual implant sizes. RESULTS: The distortion rate of the digital panoramic device was determined as 1.11 vertically and 1.81 horizontally. Vertically, radiographic measurements were calculated lower than the actual implant lengths as 0.95 mm in the anterior, 0.70 mm in the premolar and 0.60 mm in the molar regions. Horizontally, radiographic measurements were calculated lower than the actual implant width as 0.50 mm in anterior and molar regions and 0.60 mm in premolar region, respectively. These differences were statistically significant (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Considering the results of the device and regional distortion rates, it has been shown that digital panoramic radiography is an effective method to evaluate the existing bone height, especially in the posterior regions of the jaws, when a safe distance to the anatomical structures is maintained.