Diagnosis of vertical root fractures in endodontically prepared teeth, with or without the presence of intracanal cast metallic posts using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Rebeca Ferraz de Menezes, Roberto Alves dos Santos, Joedy Maria Santa Rosa, Vanio Santos Costa

Objective: To assess the diagnosis of vertical root fracture in teeth endodontically treated, with or without cast metal post (CMP), by means of CBCT, using Prexion Scanner. Methods: The sample consisted of 48 human premolars extracted, single-rooted, which were divided in 3 groups: Group 1, control, 16 teeth without gutta-percha and CMP, from which 8 were artificially fractured; Group 2, 16 teeth presenting gutta-percha, from which 8 were artificially fractured; Group 3, 16 teeth presenting CMP, from which 8 were artificially fractured. The teeth were fractured according to the method set out in literature. A specialist in dental radiology, with 10 years of experience in tomography, evaluated the scans. Sensibility, specificity and accuracy were calculated by means of a dichotomous evaluation (presence or absence of fracture). Results: By means of Fisher’s test, it was not detected statistical difference between groups regarding accuracy, sensibility and specificity for the fracture diagnosis, yet there was a high percentage of false positive for the Group 3. Conclusion: CBCT is an excellent tool for the vertical fracture diagnosis; however, the CMP presence generates images with many artifacts, resulting in a high percentage of false positive, being of paramount importance to join the tomographic findings to the signs and clinical symptoms for the most possible accurate diagnosis of fracture.

Keywords: Image diagnosis. Endodontics. Spiral cone beam computed tomography.

How to cite: Menezes RF, Santos RA, Rosa JMS, Costa VS. Diagnosis of vertical root fractures in endodontically prepared teeth, with or without the presence of intracanals cast metallic posts using Cone Beam Computed Tomography. Dental Press Endod. 2013 May-Aug;3(2):59-63.

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