Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical values of a seven film vertical bite-wing (7 VBW) radiographic survey using Versalite Intraoral PositionerT.M. (VIP) system for the examination and diagnosis of periodontal disease.
A pilot experiment was performed by three dentists using this system. Reproducibility and standardization of obtained radiographs was determined using the intra- and interexaminer error. The degree of geometrical disagreement between the radiographs was less than 20%.
The study was carried out in order to test the applicability of this method on 67 patients with periodontal disease who were seen at the department of periodontics, Nihon University Dental Hospital. An orthopantomography (OP) of 10 patients randomly selected from these patients was taken and compared with 7 VBW radiographs. All of furcation areas on the 7 VBW radiographs could be seen. However, only 60.70% of furcation areas on the OP were clear. Diagnostic values lacked for the rest. The distance from the CEJ to the interproximal bone level could be measured on the 7 VBW radiographs. A half of areas of the CEJ and/or the interproximal bone level on the OP was obscure and impossible to measure the distance.
The result of this study suggested that a 7 VBW radiographic survey had better diagnostic values than that of the OP and particularly was available for the examination and diagnosis of slight to moderate periodontitis.
