COMPARISON OF RADIOVISIOGRAPHY WITH RADIOGRAPHIC FILM IN ROOT LENGTH DETERMINATION

Radiovisiography is a digital intraoral radiographic imaging system re quiring a substantial reduction of radiation dosage to the patient ove r film. For Radiovisiography to replace film, it must be shown to be a s efficacious. In this study, a technique of obtaining Radiovisiograph y and D-speed film images from the same Xray beam was developed with t he use of rare-earth filters. The quality of the resultant radiovisiog raphic images was verified in vitro with pure radiovisiographic images of teeth in a dried mandible with soft tissue simulation Two examiner s compared Radiovisiography with D-speed film for 20 root length estim ations using the same in-vitro model. A clinical study was then carrie d out on mandibular molars of patients undergoing endodontic treatment , where 35 root lengths were obtained. The results of both in vitro an d clinical studies showed no statistical differences in the estimated root lengths using the two imaging systems. The measuring grid availab le in the Radiovisiography unit produced similarly accurate results. F urthermore, the clinical study demonstrated the effective use of Radio visiography during root canal treatment, with instant images.