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Quantitative measurements obtained by micro-computed tomography and confocal laser scanning microscopy

K Kamburolu^*,1,2, S F Barenboim³, T Artürk⁴ and I Kaffe¹

¹Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; ²Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Ankara University, Turkey; ³Department of Oral Medicine, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel; ⁴Lean Six Sigma Consultant, Statistical expert from SPAC Consulting, Middle East Technical University, Teknokent, Ankara, Turkey

*Correspondence to: Dr Kvanç Kamburolu, Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey. E-mail: dtkivo{at}yahoo.com

Received 22 September 2007; revised 6 November 2007; accepted 30 November 2007

Objectives: To compare measurements obtained by micro-CT with those obtained by confocal laser scanning microscope in simulative internal resorption cavities.

Methods: An extracted human maxillary central incisor tooth was divided into two in the coronal plane. Four artificial internal resorption cavities were prepared with standardized burs on each section, and diameters and volumes were measured using a laser scanning electron confocal microscope and a desktop cone beam micro-CT-40. Differences between means of quantitative measurements for both methods were tested using the paired t-test; the correlation between quantitative measurements was tested by regression analysis.

Results: Mean diameter and volume differences between the two methods were 0.061 mm and 0.004 mm³, respectively. Average diameter and volume calculations obtained by micro-CT were significantly lower (P < 0.001 for diameter and P < 0.01 for volume). A significantly strong relationship was found in the average diameters (R²  =  92.9%) and calculated volumes (R²  =  91%), (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Although a strong correlation between both methods was found, micro-CT significantly underestimated the diameters and volumes.

Keywords: micro-computed tomography; scanning electron confocal microscopy; internal resorption; quantitative measurement