Radiopacity of restorative materials using digital images

Abstract

The radiopacity of esthetic restorative materials has been established as an important requirement, improving the radiographic diagnosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiopacity of six restorative materials using a direct digital image system, comparing them to the dental tissues (enamel-dentin), expressed as equivalent thickness of aluminum (millimeters of aluminum). Five specimens of each material were made. Three 2-mm thick longitudinal sections were cut from an intact extracted permanent molar tooth (including enamel and dentin). An aluminum step wedge with 9 steps was used. The samples of different materials were placed on a phosphor plate together with a tooth section, aluminum step wedge and metal code letter, and were exposed using a dental x-ray unit. Five measurements of radiographic density were obtained from each image of each item assessed (restorative material, enamel, dentin, each step of the aluminum step wedge) and the mean of these values was calculated. Radiopacity values were subsequently calculated as equivalents of aluminum thickness. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated significant differences in radiopacity values among the materials (P<0.0001). The radiopacity values of the restorative materials evaluated were, in decreasing order: TPH, F2000, Synergy, Prisma Flow, Degufill, Luxat. Only Luxat had significantly lower radiopacity values than dentin. One material (Degufill) had similar radiopacity values to enamel and four (TPH, F2000, Synergy and Prisma Flow) had significantly higher radiopacity values than enamel. In conclusion, to assess the adequacy of posterior composite restorations it is important that the restorative material to be used has enough radiopacity, in order to be easily distinguished from the tooth structure in the radiographic image. Knowledge on the radiopacity of different materials helps professionals to select the most suitable material, along with other properties such as biocompatibility, adhesion and esthetic.

Radiopacity of Dental Materials: An Overview

“…Later, polyacid-modified compomers became available, which had mechanical properties comparable to glass ionomers but with higher radiopacity (11,19,47). Radiopacifying elements include barium, bismuth or lanthanum oxides, strontium, zirconium, sulfates, or carbonates that vary greatly in concentration in composite resins with different compositions.…”

Radiopacity measurements of direct and indirect resin composites at different thicknesses using digital image analysis

“…In principle, restorative materials should be radiopaque enough to be detected against enamel and dentin. In addition, radiopacity of composites serves to support the detection of secondary caries, marginal defects, restoration contours, missing contact points with adjacent teeth, cement overhangs, or interfacial gaps [6][7][8][9][10][11] . On the other hand, excessive radiopacity may reduce the ability to diagnose recurrent caries and other defects 10,12,13) .…”

“…Accordingly, resin-based materials should have radiopacity equal to or greater than that of aluminium Al 21) . Several studies in published literature have evaluated the radiopacity of composites [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . To the best of our knowledge, however, none has compared the Radiopacity measurements of direct and indirect resin composites at different thicknesses using digital image analysis radiopacity of direct and indirect composites.…”

<b>Evaluation of the optical density of composite resins with the use of nanotechnology by means of intraoral radiographic system (CMOS)

“…Several studies evaluated the optical density of dental materials of different thicknesses and with the use of different digital radiology programs for image analysis (TIRAPELLI et al, 2004;SALZEDAS et al, 2006;CRUVINEL et al, 2007;TSUGE et al, 2008;BALDEA et al, 2009;ERGÜCÜ et al, 2010, PEDROSA et al, 2011WICHT et al, 2011). Ergücü et al (2010 , through linear attenuation coefficient, at different exposure times and speed.…”