TITLE:
Acrylic Customized X-Ray Positioning Stent for Prospective Bone Level Analysis in Long-Term Clinical Implant Studies
AUTHORS:
Ana Messias, João Paulo Tondela, Salomão Rocha, Rita Reis, Pedro Nicolau, Fernando Guerra
KEYWORDS:
Dental Radiovisiography; Radiograph; Dental Implant; Outcome Measurement Errors; Reproducibility of Results
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Radiology,
Vol.3 No.3,
September
6,
2013
ABSTRACT: Objectives: This paper describes a technique to produce individualized X-ray positioning devices for intraoral digital imaging of dental implants with long-term stability. Materials and Methods: An X-ray positioning device was built for Gendex? Visualix? eHD sensor, using the Dentsply rinn XCP-DS? system individualized by the incorporation of the bite piece within an acrylic stent to perform successive standardized radiographs to 16 patients. X-ray tube stabilization was achieved with polivinylsiloxane. Series of 3 radiographs were taken to each patient in different moments. Specific linear measurements as the implant diameter (mesio-distal width) and the height between consecutive threads (thread pitch) were made to all radiographs to determine the reproducibility and accuracy of the procedure. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient for the mesio-distal width was 0.964 [(0.920 - 0.986) 95% CI] (p 0.00156 mm for the test value of 3.3 (p = 0.9), -0.00026 mm for 0.8 (p = 0.96) and 0.0124 for 4.125 (p = 0.72), respectively, after the application of a magnification correction factor. Conclusion: The device produced reproducible images in different moments and was suitable for comparative clinical examinations of marginal bone as it was convenient to perform reliable linear measurements.