Concordance among three diagnostic methods for determining the position of the mandibular condyle

Abstract

The position of the condyle can be determined using different diagnostic tools, among which are transcranial X-rays (RT), Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), and the Condylar Position Indicator (CPI). This study aimed to determine the concordance among the CPI, the CBCT, and the RT as diagnostic methods for determining the condyle position. Materials and method: 32 valid cases, each of which had an RT, a CBCT, and a CPI, were analyzed by three observers. SPSS V. 26.0 program was used to calculate the Kappa trust interval, using the jackknife technique which allows to estimate of the standard error between observers. To evaluate the condylar position using CPI, an AD2 articulator was employed. A Pullinger and Hollender layout was used in the tomographic and transcranial images. Results: The concordance among the three observers for each method resulted in a value of Kappa higher than 0.879. The concordance between CBCT and RT was 0.0627, between CPI and RT it was 0.247, and between CBCT and CPI it was .188. Conclusion: The level of concordance obtained between the three observers with any given diagnostic method was very good, which indicates that the concordance that each observer obtained regarding each diagnostic method is trustworthy. In this study, it is concluded that there is a concordance in the diagnosis regarding the position of the condyle of the tomography with the transcranial radiography. There is no concordance between tomography and CPI. There was also no concordance between the CPI and the transcranial radiography.