Root surface area measurement of permanent dentition in Indian population – CBCT analysis

Abstract

Abstract The area of the root surface of human teeth has been investigated extensively in the dental literature. All previous attempts mainly rely on the use of physical methods to calculate surface area on extracted teeth or use virtual 3D Models for the same. The aim is to develop an algorithm using MATLAB software that estimates the dimensions of 3-D image produced with the help of CBCT so that the same can be utilized to calculate the root surface area of teeth among Indian population. Present research utilizes CBCT images of samples of extracted teeth mounted on a customized jpg. A descriptive chart for statistical analysis has been prepared to obtain average root surface area of each tooth type. The currently developed algorithm has been successfully applied to the CBCT images of complete sample of teeth to obtain their root surface area. The algorithm developed to calculate root surface area of the teeth holds wide spread application in the field of dentistry pursuing its high expediency in even various specializations of dentistry including orthodontics, prosthodontics, periodontology and implantalogy. It is concluded that it has now become a reality to accurately determine the surface area of the root of human teeth without extracting them using the CBCT radiographs of the patients.