Clinical ResearchDetection of Vertical Root Fractures by Using Cone-beam Computed Tomography: A Clinical Study
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
Subjects for this study were recruited from the patient pool seen in the Department of Endodontics. Institutional review board approval from the university was obtained before the commencement of the study. Informed consent was obtained from the patient at the time of enrollment into the study. Thirty-two teeth in 29 patients in the age group of 20–70 years who presented to the clinic with signs and symptoms of a suspected VRF were included in the study. The following clinical features were
Results
Scores 1–2 were considered negative for fractures, whereas score 3 was considered positive (Table 1). In addition to sensitivity and specificity, accuracy and positive and negative predictive values were computed as well. Sensitivity of CBCT for detection of VRF was 88%, and the specificity was 75%. Positive predictive value (PPV), the proportion of teeth with fractures that were correctly diagnosed, was determined to be 91%, and negative predictive value (NPV), the proportion of teeth with no
Discussion
This in vivo pilot study was intended to serve as a clinical trial to validate the diagnostic capability of CBCT in confirming suspected VRFs of teeth in patients. The prevalence of VRF has been reported to range from 10.9% (10) to 12.9% (11), with highest incidence occurring in an age group of 40–60 years 2, 12. The teeth most often affected were mandibular molars and maxillary premolars (12). Various factors have been attributed to the cause of these fractures 13, 14. Endodontically treated
Acknowledgments
The authors deny any conflicts of interests related to this study.
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