Subjective evaluation of artifacts in cone beam computed tomography produced by MTA Fillapex and AH Plus

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyze subjectively through a questionnaire if the radiopacity of root canal sealers AH Plus and MTA Fillapex is capable of producing artifacts in cone beam computed tomography, interfering with the picture quality and harming the diagnosis. Methods: For this purpose, we first formed the control group containing 14 healthy teeth without endodontic treatment and 3 groups called Group 1,2 and 3. Group 1 contained 10 test teeth filled with gutta percha without sealer. Group 2 contained 10 teeth filled with gutta percha soaked in Fillapex MTA and group 3 had 10 teeth filled with gutta percha associated with AH Plus. Groups were exposed in a cone beam computed tomography scanner iCAT to 120 kVp, 37.07 mAs , 0.125 mm voxel and acquisition time of 26.9 s . The images were saved as xstd and analyzed with the program XoranCAT by an appraiser who specializes in radiology and endodontics. The evaluation was conducted through a questionnaire with items about the presence of artifacts, image quality in the cervical, middle and apical third and the possibility of the images assist in correct diagnosis of radicular dental tissues Results: The results showed the presence of artefacts in all acquisitions of the experimental groups, as well as 100 % of the images of the experimental groups were not satisfactory to assist in the correct diagnosis of radicular dental tissues. The control group showed no artifacts, as well as the images were considered satisfactory for the assistance of a correct diagnosis. Conclusions: The cone beam computed tomography is an important tool for endodontic diagnosis. However, like other imaging systems, is likely to fail. For this reason, the clinical diagnosis should always prevail over the imaging tests, which are supporting the process for a correct diagnosis.