Differences Between Cbct Devices To Measure Buccal Bone Thickness After Implant Placement

Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has been widely used to evaluate peri-implant bone parameters in a tridimensional visualization. However, artifacts occur in the presence of metal objects and may affect the image quality of dental implants surroundings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of two cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) devices for measurement of buccal-bone thickness surrounding dental implants. Dental implants (n=17) were installed in dry human skulls and scanned using two CBCT devices: G1 (85kVp, 7mA, 0.125mm voxel size) and G2 (70kVp, 6.3mA, 0.180mm voxel size). Buccal bone thickness was measured at points (A): apical of dental implant; (B): 5 mm above point A and (C): distance between top of implant to the bone surface. Values were compared with a high-precision computed tomography (210kV, 320u03bcA and 0.093mm voxel size) and statistically analyzed with a significance level of p=0.05.In point A, no statistical difference was found for bone thickness (G1:4.43u00b11.79; G2:4.20u00b11.73; CG:4.64u00b11.99). A statistically significant underestimation of values was found for points B (G1:1.35u00b10.91; G2:1.64u00b11.24; CG:3.79u00b11.61) and C (G1:1.39u00b11.12; G2:1.62u00b11.03; CG: 2.46u00b11.36). The CBCT devices presented similar accuracy for measurement of buccal-bone thickness surrounding dental implants.