Frequency of Periapical Radiolucency in CBCTs of Iranian Patients

Abstract

The present study is aimed to determine the frequency of periapical periodontitis lesions in CBCT images, taken from patients referred to the Radiology Department of Dentistry Faculty of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences during 2014-2017. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, CBCT images were selected from 151 patients (84 women and 67 men, with mean age of 43 years), who were referred to this center. The recorded data included patients' age and sex, lesion's site, type, and condition of the teeth involved. The frequency of the lesions was determined based on these variables with the help of the chi-square test. P-value of <= 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Periapical lesions were observed in 123 patients (81.5%). There was a significant difference in the frequency of lesions among different age groups (p < 0.011). Out of 428 lesions, 73 cases (17.1%) were in the age group of < 30 years, 132 cases (30.8%) were in the age group of 31-40 years, 111 cases (25.9%) were in the age group of 41-51 years, and 112 cases (26.2%) were in the age group of > 51 years. The frequency of periapical lesions was not significantly different between male and female patients. Most lesions were seen on the right mandible (28.3%) and the 6th tooth (19.39 %). Frequency of lesions was higher in maxilla than mandible. In 23.36% of the cases, the involved teeth had proper root canal treatment and 39.33% had inappropriate root canal treatment. This work concluded that the prevalence of periapical radiolucency was very high in the studied patients and its prevalence increased in older patients and in teeth with complex anatomy.