Farzad Esmaeili

Background. Little information is available about the effect of vitamin D on jaw bone density, and human studies about this entity are scarce. Vitamin D deficiency weakens bone regeneration and is responsible for many systemic diseases, such as chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, etc. Methods. Fifty candidates for dental implant treatment aged 20‒60 were randomly chosen at the Implantology Department of the Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Fifteen patients were male, and 35 were female, and they were examined for their vitamin D3 serum levels. All the patients had cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) radiographic images. According to their vitamin D3 levels, they were split into three groups: deficient, insufficient, and sufficient, and the density of bone was evaluated using the mean calculated Hounsfield unit from the Planmeca Romexis software. Results. In the vitamin D3-deficient group, the mandibular bone of both males and females demonstrated lower bone densities; however, there was no significant correlation between bone density and vitamin D3 serum levels in either the maxilla or the mandible. Conclusion. This study could not find a correlation between the serum levels of vitamin D3 and the bone density of the jaws. Further studies are necessary in this respect.

Objectives This study aimed to assess the hard tissue changes following socket preservation with allograft and xenograft materials for dental implantation by texture analysis (TA) using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and methods This prospective clinical trial was conducted on 25 patients who required the extraction of carious mandibular posterior teeth and their subsequent replacement with dental implants. The patients were categorized into three groups: (I) no socket preservation, (II) socket preservation with xenograft material, and (III) socket preservation with allograft material. Four months after tooth extraction, the patients were recalled for preoperative assessment before dental implantation, and CBCT scans were obtained (Kvp:110, mA:1.94, S:3.6). MaZda software was used to compare homogeneity, contrast, and texture complexity on axial CBCT sections among the three groups. Results Significant differences existed among the three groups in all parameters (P < 0.05) except for the mean correlation parameter (P > 0.05). The results showed no significant difference between the no graft and xenograft groups regarding contrast and differential (dif.) entropy (P > 0.05). Also, no significant difference was found between the xenograft and allograft groups regarding the dif. variance and also between the no graft and allograft groups regarding the inverse difference moment(InvDfMom) and dif. variance parameters (P > 0.05). All other pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences (P < 0.05). Conclusion TA can be used for the quantification of radiographic changes of bone following socket preservation and potentially accelerate the process of decision-making for dental implant treatment.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the hard tissue changes following socket preservation with allograft and xenograft materials for dental implantation by texture analysis (TA) using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: This prospective clinical trial was conducted on 25 patients who required the extraction of carious mandibular posterior teeth and their subsequent replacement with dental implants. The patients were categorized into three groups: (I) no socket preservation, (II) socket preservation with xenograft material, and (III) socket preservation with allograft material. Four months after tooth extraction, the patients were recalled for preoperative assessment before dental implantation, and CBCT scans were obtained. MaZda software was used to compare homogeneity, contrast, and texture complexity on axial CBCT sections among the three groups. Results: Significant differences existed among the three groups in all parameters (P0.05). The results showed no significant difference between the no graft and xenograft groups regarding contrast and differential (dif.) entropy (P>0.05). Also, no significant difference was found between the xenograft and allograft groups regarding the dif. variance, and also between the no graft and allograft groups regarding the inverse difference moment(InvDfMom) and dif. variance parameters (P>0.05). All other pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences (PConclusion: TA can be used for quantification of radiographic changes of bone following socket preservation, and potentially accelerate the process of decision-making for dental implant treatment.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the quality and quantity of bone at intraoral autogenous graft donor sites in type II diabetes mellitus (DM) patients versus healthy controls using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and methods: This case-control study was conducted on CBCT scans of 50 DM patients and 50 healthy controls between 20-70 years. Maximum height, width, length, and volume of harvestable bone at the symphysis, ramus, palate, and tuberosity were measured bilaterally. The Hounsfield unit (HU) was also calculated to assess bone quality. The two groups were compared regarding the quality and quantity of harvestable bone using an independent t-test. The effect of confounders was analyzed by the regression model (alpha = 0.05). Results: DM patients had significantly lower harvestable bone volume at the symphysis, ramus, and tuberosity than healthy controls (p < 0.001) but this difference was not significant at the palate (p = 0.957). Also, bone quality was significantly lower at the symphysis, ramus, palate, and tuberosity in DM patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Diabetic patients had significantly lower bone quality and quantity at intraoral graft donor sites than healthy controls. Mandibular symphysis had higher bone volume and density than ramus, palate, and tuberosity for graft harvesting in diabetic patients.

Background. The etiology of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome in children significantly differs from adults. In previous studies, only some of the indices have been investigated using CBCT. This study compares all the measurable indices of airway dimensions and anatomical cephalometric landmarks between children with OSA and healthy ones using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods. Dimensions of the airway and cephalometric values were measured on CBCT scans of 50 children aged 8–12 (25 patients with OSA and 25 healthy subjects) and then compared between the two groups. The results of this study were analyzed with independent t test using SPSS 17 at a significance level of P<0.05. Results. Area, length, volume, anteroposterior length, and size of the upper airway in subjects with OSA were lower than those in healthy children, while the average values of SNA, SNB, and ANB in the OSA group were higher than those in the healthy group (P=0.366, P=0.012, and P=0.114, respectively). Also, BaSN, PNS/AD1, and PNS/AD2 measurements in subjects with OSA were lower than healthy subjects (P=0.041, P=0.913, and P=0.015, respectively). In addition, the width and anteroposterior length of the upper airway, SNB, BaSN, PNS/AD1, and PNS/AD2 indices were significantly different between the healthy group and those with OSA (P<0.05). Conclusion. Reduced upper airway dimensions, adenoid tissue enlargement, and cranial base flexion might play an important role in OSA development in children. However, most skeletal variables, such as the anteroposterior relationship of jaws and jaw rotation, were not significantly different between the two groups.

Background and Aim: To identify human skeletal remains, different methods can be used and using these techniques, important data can be obtained. However, facial reconstruction is the last method to indentify unknown human faces which requires knowledge about facial soft tissue thickness in the different positions of the face. The present study determined the facial soft tissue thickness in the different landmark points on the MRI images of patients referred to Radiology Department of Shahid Madani Hospital. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional trial, MRI images of 179 patients (61 males, 118 females) in the age range of 18-76 years old who did not show any pathologic lesions, were selected. The measurements of the facial soft tissue were done on 12 landmark points on the midline area by two radiologist observers using specific software on the images. The differences in the soft tissue thickness in these landmark points were statistically analyzed by Mann-Whitney U (in term of gender) and Kruskal-Wallis tests (in terms of Body Mass Index [BMI] and age groups). P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The data were compared with the results of other studies. Results: The results obtained in the present study were higher than Turkish and American studies in most of the landmark points. Facial soft tissue thickness in most of the landmarks was more in males than females. In some of the landmarks, significant differences were found between emaciated, normal and overweight patients while in most cases, soft tissue thickness increased with the increased BMI. In some cases, significant differences were noted between soft tissue thickness values among the different age groups, in which the thickness increased or thinned with the increased age. Statistical Analysis: There were statistically significant associations between the presence and surface area of Haller cells and the occurrence of ipsilateral maxillary sinusitis. Neither the angulation of the uncinate process nor the size of the maxillary sinus ostium significantly correlates with the formation of maxillary sinusitis. Conclusion: The data achieved in the present study can be used for the facial reconstruction purposes in the Iranian population; however, the slight differences existing between the studied population and other subgroup races must be considered for accurate reconstructions.

Objectives:Detection of vertical root fractures (VRFs) in their initial stages is a crucial issue, which prevents the propagation of injury to the adjacent supporting structures. Designing a suitable neural network-based model could be a useful method to diagnose the VRFs. The aim of this study was to design a probabilistic neural network (PNN) to diagnose the VRFs in intact and endodontically treated teeth of periapical and CBCT radiographs. Also, we have compared the efficacy of these two imaging techniques in the detection of VRFs.Methods:A total of 240 radiographs of teeth (120 radiographs of teeth with no VRFs and 120 teeth with vertical fractures, with half of the teeth in each category treated endodontically and the remaining half intact, i.e. not endodontically treated) were used in 3 groups for training and testing of the neural network as follows: Group 1, 180/60; Group 2, 120/120; and Group 3, 60/180. First, Daubechies 3 wavelet was applied to acquire the image analysis coefficients on two plan...

Background: The first commercial system for digital radiography was introduced in 1987, and it has evolved a great deal since then. Currently, it is possible to enhance images in digital radiography. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of image enhancement in direct digital radiography as it relates to interproximal carries assessment. Materials and Methods: Following extraction, 50 human teeth were kept in acidic gel (methyl cellulose + acetate buffer PH = 4.8) for 42 days at 37°C to cause caries before mounting. Direct digital radiography was then taken. Two filters were used: sharpen and emboss. Three radiologists evaluated the images with two weeks interval. The histologic assessments were gold standard. Additionally, SPSS 20 was used to draw an ROC curve and calculate AUC. Cohen’s kappa and interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to measure intra- and inter-observer reliability. Results: For the emboss filter, sensitivity was 95%, specificity was 100%, and accuracy was 96%. For the sharpen filter, sensitivity was 88%, specificity was 100%, and accuracy was 90%. Also, the AUC for the emboss filter was 0.97, and it was 0.94 for the sharpen filter. Cohen’s simple kappa was in the range of excellent. Conclusions: Using these filters in intra-oral direct digital radiography (especially the emboss filter) can help some clinicians to increase diagnostic accuracy in the assessment of inter proximal caries of posterior teeth. Keywords: Dental Caries; Digital Dental Radiography; Image Enhancement; Sensitivity; Specificity