COMPARISON OF TWO MORPHOMETRIC LINEAR METHODS FOR ALVEOLAR BONE LOSS MEASUREMENT IN EXPERIMENTAL PERIODONTITIS

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare direct (performed by a dental loop, periodontal probe and digital caliper over the alveolar bone) and indirect (performed by means of a special software program on digital photographs) linear morphometric measurements to assess the alveolar bone loss. Material and methods: Thirty right mandible of Sprague Dawley rats were obtained from a previous study that induced periodontitis with ligature model. In direct measurement group, the distance between cemento -enamel junction and alveolar bone crest was evaluated by digital caliper and periodontal probe using a dental loop, whereas in indirect group by an image analysis program on digital photographs. The difference between the groups was determined by Mann-Whitney U test. Results and discussions: Mean alveolar bone loss was 1.08 +/- 0.22 mm in direct measurement group and 1.19 +/- 0.33 mm in indirect measurement group. The difference between direct and indirect groups was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusions: Based on the present result, it can be concluded that, the use of direct morphometric analysis may be an alternative to indirect morphometric evaluations for measuring alveolar bone loss in rats after the induction of experimental periodontitis.