THE MEASUREMENT OF MOLAR FURCATION DEFECT FILL USING DIGITAL-COMPUTERTECHNOLOGY-REPORT ON A NEW TECHNIQUE

Recent advances in digital imaging technology have opened up new horiz ons for dental researchers. This study demonstrates the efficacy of an ew technique for measuring regeneration in surgically created molar fu rcal defects. The investigators evaluated histologic material from a r ecently completed animal study using five adult baboons. In the animal study, surgically created molar furcation defects were treated using the principles of guided tissue regeneration. From the histologic data of one animal, a computer calculated the volume of new bone, connecti ve tissue, epithelium, and cementum as a percentage of the original de fect size. The results of this study indicated that digital imaging te chnology is a useful research tool for determining the volume of defec t fill in surgically treated Grade II molar furcation defects in the b aboon animal model.