The role of objective plane angulation on the mandibular image using cross-sectional tomography

Cross-sectional jaw images in the buccolingual direction obtained by conventional or computerized tomography are used in the image diagnosis of dental implant treatment. This study was performed to clarify the subjective image quality of the mandibular depiction by shifting the angles of the tomographic objective plane. A panoramic machine with a linear tomographic function was used to obtain cross-sectional tomographic images on bilateral first molar regions of 10 dried human mandibles. The angles of tomographic objective planes were shifted horizontally within a range of +/- 20 degrees at intervals of 5 degrees from the tomographic objective plane, which was automatically determined. The image qualities of 4 anatomical structures-alveolar crest, buccal and lingual cortical bone, and mandibular canal-were subjectively scored on a 5-point scale method. As a result, the permitted tomographic objective angles were from -1.7 degrees to 2.5 degrees, a range of 4.2 degrees for all 4 anatomical structures. When this result was compared with a previous geometric result, the permitted range of the angles was quite narrow. The tomographic objective angles should be manually set in accordance with an optimal tomographic plane for individual patients by using the positioning technique in linear tomography.