Comparison of digital and conventional radiographic techniques

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between conventional and digital radiographic methods in the measurement of periapical lesions in primary molars and compares the time used to obtain the radiographic images between both methods. Material and methods: This crossover study included children between 4 to 8-year-old with periapical lesion in primary mandibular molars. Fifteen molars were randomly assigned firstly to receive conventional or digital periapical radiograph during the steps of endodontic treatment. The time to obtain the radiographic image was evaluated in seconds and compared by the Mann-Whitney test. The periapical lesions measurement (mm2) were performed by the Image J software and the degree of correlation of measurement between both techniques was evaluated by the Spearman correlation test. Data was analyzed using the GraphPad Prism software (α = 0.05). Results: A strong positive correlation between the measurement of lesions occurred on conventional methods in comparison with the measurement on digital methods (r2=0.778; p<0.0006); however, the time to obtain the radiographic images was shorter in the digital method (p<0.0001). Conclusion: The digital method had a shorter amount of time to obtain the images and strong correlation for the lesions measurement in comparison to the conventional method. Therefore, the digital radiograph method is preferable for use in children.