A Comparison of the Amounts of Artifacts Produced by Five Cements in Cone-Beam CT

Bidimensional radiographic methods, including periapical, occlusal, panoramic, and cephalometric radiographs, are widely used in dentistry. However, the superimposition of adjacent structures and consequent loss of anatomic details may occur. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the artifacts produced by different cements with different densities using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Samples of five cements with different densities including glass ionomers (or GI, from ChemFil Rock and Fuji IX), mineral trioxide aggregates (MTA), zinc oxide eugenol (ZOE), TempBond and a control sample (polyester) were scanned by CBCT device and analyzed using OnDemand 3D application software. The amount of artifacts was measured by ∆ gray scale value (∆GSV), which was achieved by subtracting the gray level of the samples from the control group. According to the mean GSV of the five different materials, the majority of artifacts produced were as follows: TempBond > ZOE > MTA > GI (ChemFil Dentsply) > GI (GC, Fuji ΙX). The type of materials can influence the obtained GSV. Different materials cause various amounts of artifacts due to differences in density and atomic number.