Objective: The authors evaluated the accuracy of CBCT for length measurements of human teeth. A study of accuracy of the methods direct and indirect was performed.
Method: Were used 20 lower bicuspid teeth. The lengths of the teeth were measured in millimeters using digital caliper (direct method). After this the teeth were embedded in acrylic resin to be stabilized for image acquisition. The measurement of images was performed using the software Xoran CT (indirect method), after scanning them on the CBCT (i-Cat Classic, ISI, Hartfield,USA) with voxel size of 0.125mm and 40s to scanning. To verify the accuracy and reliability inter and intraobserver was performed the Skewness / Kurtosis normality test and paired t-test (95% significance).
Results: All variables used presented a normal distribution. None differences were observed in both intraobserver assessment with the caliper and in the evaluation of CBCT for both observers. The reliability to CBCT was higher than the caliper. Interobserver reliability in the error was 0.04 (SD = 0.13, p = 0.867) to check with the caliper and 0.01 (SD = 0.17, p = 0.699) for the CBCT, showing better reliability for tomography. The measurement by the indirect method (CBCT) has demonstrated error of 0.29 (SD = 0.29, p = 0.000). The CBCT presented higher inter and intraobserver reliability for linear measurements and showed a lower average when compared to the direct method and the error was not statistically significant.
Conclusion: The feasibility of CBCT to linear measurements of human size teeth was confirmed when compared to direct method using caliper.