Applying synthetic radiography to intraoral tomosynthesis: a step towards achieving 3D imaging in the dental clinic.

Objectives: A practical approach to three-dimensional (3D) intraoral imaging would have many potential applications in clinical dentistry. intraoral tomosynthesis (sIOT) is an experimental 3D imaging technology that holds promise. The purpose of this study was to explore radiography as a tool to improve the clinical utility of the images generated by an sIOT scan.

Methods: Extracted tooth specimens containing either caries adjacent to restorations (CAR) or vertical root fractures (VRF) were imaged by sIOT and standard dental radiography devices. Qualitative assessments were used to compare the conspicuity of these pathologies in the standard radiographs and in a set of multi-view radiographs generated from the information collected by sIOT.

Results: The sIOT-based 2D radiographs contained less artefact than the image slices in the reconstructed 3D stack, which is the conventional approach to displaying information from a tomosynthesis scan. As a single sIOT scan can be used to generate radiographs from multiple viewing angles, the interproximal space was less likely to be obscured in the images compared to the standard radiograph. Additionally, the multi-view radiographs can potentially improve the display of CAR and VRFs as compared to a single standard radiograph.

Conclusions: This preliminary experience combining radiography and sIOT in extracted tooth models is encouraging and supports the ongoing study of this promising approach to 3D intraoral imaging with many potential applications.