The volume of the dental pulp chamber determinig by using Cone-beam computed tomography

Abstract

Introduction. Cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) imaging is a valuable tool in dental practice. It is widely used in endodontic treatment for the root canal morphology examination. The aim of this study was to verify whether clinical use of CBCT imaging can accurately acquire parameters concerning molar pulp chamber landmarks, which are important data to help start a successful way to calculate the number of stem cells in the dental pulp. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use CBCT to calculate the volume of the pulp chamber at different tooth groups. Material and methods. This study conforms to protocols approved and in accordance with the ethics committee’s requirements, informed consent was obtained from each patient. Morphologic measurements of 120 maxillary and 120 mandibular molars (from 40 patients, aged 18-45 years) were included in this study. CBCT images were taken using a Kodak 9500 (Dental Systems, Carestream Health) operated at 90 kVp with a voxel size of 300 mm and a field of view of 90 150 mm. All scans were taken following the manufacturer’s recommendation protocol. According to the examination requirements, C-shaped roots, single-rooted molars, crowned teeth, and teeth with caries and/ or restorations violating the pulp chamber were excluded. All measurements were taken on the coronal plane view. Results. In the present study, we used CBCT imaging to gather information regarding pulp chamber volume. With the scanned 3-dimensional images, we were able to clinically determine the pulp chamber parameters using a standardized and defined spatial approach. Conclusions. The data we collected here serve as a proof of principle for the analysis of dental landmarks before colecting stem cells. In this particular study, existing CBCT scans were used to provide useful information that can be used as a guide for determine volume of the pulp chamber.