Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 May 20;5(5):e01698.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01698. eCollection 2019 May.

Evaluation of mandibular calcification on 3D volume images

Barbara Schreiner-Tiefenbacher  1 , Vivian Forster  1 , Klaudio Pauli  1 , Walter Sutter  1 , Marius Meier  1 , Henning Roland  1 , Patrick Bandura  1 , Dritan Turhani  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of mandibular calcification on 3D volume images

Barbara Schreiner-Tiefenbacher et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Objectives: Bone and soft-tissue calcifications are often coincidentally diagnosed on digital panoramic radiographs (DPRs). As the use of three-dimensional (3D) images has increased in the past decade for diagnostics in the mandibular region, we evaluated 3D volume images derived from 2D panoramic images to determine if this method is suitable for early detection of calcifications in this region.

Methods: In this study, three investigators retrospectively and independently evaluated 822 DPRs. If one or more calcifications were present, the 3D volume image from that patient was retrospectively evaluated to confirm the incidental findings. A radiographic system with a low-dose mode and a high-resolution 3D-image function was used. The investigators focussed on the most common calcifications, including tonsilloliths (TL), idiopathic osteosclerosis (IO) of the mandible, carotid artery calcifications (CAC), calcified submandibular lymph nodes (hereafter, CSL), and sialoliths of the submandibular salivary gland (SSG).

Results: One or more calcifications were identified in 415 (50.5%) DPRs. In total, 718 calcifications were detected, 30.2% of which were TL, 16.3% IO, 11.3% CAC, 8.8% CSL, and 1.7% SSG. Only 287 (39.97 %) of the calcifications were confirmed on 3D volume images; of these, 29.2% were TL, 58.5% IO, 0.2% CAC, and 1.4% SSG. No CSLs were detected.

Conclusions: Not all areas shown on the DPRs were visible in the retrospectively obtained 3D volume images. Whereas DPRs are used to diagnose calcifications such as IO, TL, SSG, CAC, and CSL, the 3D volume images were only useful for confirming the existence of IO, TL, and SSG calcifications.

Keywords: Dentistry; Medical imaging.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
This 3D image shows (A) panoramic, (B) axial, and (C) sagittal views of tonsilloliths.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
This 3D image shows (A) panoramic, (B) axial, and (C) sagittal views of a sialolith of the submandibular gland.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
This 3D image shows (A) panoramic, (B) axial, and (C) sagittal views of a calcified atherosclerotic plaque.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
This 3D image shows (A) panoramic, (B) axial, and (C) sagittal views of idiopathic osteosclerosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Caglayan F., Akif Sümbüllü M., Miloglu O., Akgül H.M. Are all soft tissue calcifications detected by Cone-beam computed tomography in the submandibular region sialoliths? J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 2014;72:1531. - PubMed
    1. Soares A.D., Wanzeler A.M., Oliveria Renda M.D., Marinho C.G., Tuji F.M. Cone-Beam computed tomography findings in the early diagnosis of calcified atheromas. J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 2017;75:143–148. - PubMed
    1. Van der Meij E.H., Karagozoglu K.H., De Visscher J.G.A.M. The value of cone-beam computed tomography in the detection of salivary stones prior to sialendoscopy. J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 2017;47:223–227. - PubMed
    1. Togan B., Gander T., Lanzer M., Martin R., Lübbers H.T. Incidence and frequency of nondental incidental findings on cone-beam computed tomography. J. Cranio-Maxillo-Fac. Surg. 2016;44:1373–1380. - PubMed
    1. Khojastepour L., Haghnegahdar A., Sayar H. Prevalence of soft tissue calcifications in CBCT images of mandibular region. J. Dent. 2017;2:88–94. - PMC - PubMed