Convenient model of hard tissue simulation for dental radiographic research and instruction.

Background: The authors describe a technique for building an alternative jawbone phantom using dental gypsum and rice for research and dental radiology instruction.

Aim: To investigate the potential of an alternative phantom to simulate the trabecular bone aspect of the human maxilla in periapical radiographs.

Methods: Half-maxillary phantoms built from gypsum-ground rice were exposed to X-rays, and the resulting images (experimental group) were compared to standardized radiographic images produced from dry human maxillary bone (control group) ( = 7).