Assessments of trabecular bone density at implant sites on CT images

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between trabecular bone density measurements of potential implant sites made on axial DICOM images (DentaCT software) and on the same images with eFilm workstation, to correlate bone densities in Hounsfield units (HU) with subjective classification, and to establish a quantitative scale for each bone quality class. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-seven maxillary and 27 mandibular computed tomographic (CT) examinations of 75 potential implant sites were selected. Trabecular bone density was evaluated with DentaCT and eFilm. Bone quality was subjectively evaluated by 2 examiners. Descriptive statistics, between- and within-group comparison, correlation analysis, and Bland-Altman plot were used for data analysis. RESULTS: DentaCT measurements were higher than eFilm (P 200 to 400 HU. CONCLUSION: Different qualities of bone can be found in any of the anatomical regions studied (anterior and posterior sites of maxilla and mandible), which confirms the importance of a site-specific bone tissue evaluation prior to implant installation