Preoperative planning in dentistry relies on imaging to assess the separation between the teeth and mandibular canal. Cone beam CT(CBCT) shows inferior contrast of the mandible canal and features radiation. In this work, the use of zero TE (zTE) imaging as an alternative to CBCT imaging for preoperative planning in dentistry is investigated. Twenty-two patients (11 males, 11 females, age 26-65) were enrolled in this prospective study. The performance of zTE imaging was assessed using CBCT as a gold standard in preoperative planning for tooth extraction (qualitative classification) and implanting (quantitative dimensional measurement). Zero TE imaging showed clear delineation of teeth and mandible, and showed better depiction of the mandible canal as compared to CBCT. In assessing the spatial relationship between the third molar and the mandibular canal, identical results were obtained from two readers based on zTE and CBCT images; in spatial measurements related to the second premolar, high intraclass coefficient was obtained in all the performed measurements between zTE and CBCT (0.782 to 0.921) and between reviewers (0.812 to 0.958). The results of Bland Altman analysis also indicated low level of bias (max -1.8%) and disagreements (max -15.1% to 11.3%) between the results of zTE and CBCT. Zero TE imaging may be a potential imaging tool in preoperative planning in dentistry when CBCT is undesirable.
Keywords: CT; Inferior alveolar nerve; Tooth; zTE imaging.
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