Radiopacity of restorative materials using digital images

• Main Author: Salzedas, Leda Maria Pescinini
• Publication Date: 2006
• Other Authors: Louzada, Mário Jefferson Quirino, Oliveira Filho, Antonio Braz de
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Journal of applied oral science (Online)
• Download full: https://www.revistas.usp.br/jaos/article/view/3359
• topic: Densitometria; Materiais dentários; Radiografia digital; Densitometry; Dental material; Digital radiography

The radiopacity of esthetic restorative materials has been established as an important requirement, improving the radiographic diagnosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiopacity of six restorative materials using a direct digital image system, comparing them to the dental tissues (enamel-dentin), expressed as equivalent thickness of aluminum (millimeters of aluminum). Five specimens of each material were made. Three 2-mm thick longitudinal sections were cut from an intact extracted permanent molar tooth (including enamel and dentin). An aluminum step wedge with 9 steps was used. The samples of different materials were placed on a phosphor plate together with a tooth section, aluminum step wedge and metal code letter, and were exposed using a dental x-ray unit. Five measurements of radiographic density were obtained from each image of each item assessed (restorative material, enamel, dentin, each step of the aluminum step wedge) and the mean of these values was calculated. Radiopacity values were subsequently calculated as equivalents of aluminum thickness. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated significant differences in radiopacity values among the materials (P