Periapical repair following endodontic surgery: two- and three-dimensional imaging evaluation methods.

This study quantitatively assessed the periapical bone repair following endodontic surgery, using planimetric evaluation based on two- (conventional and digital intraoral radiographic images - IRs) and three-dimensional (cone beam computed tomography - CBCT) evaluation. Eleven maxillary anterior teeth (of 11 patients) with periapical bone lesions and indication for surgical endodontic treatment were selected. IRs and CBCT images were acquired before the endodontic surgery, and 48 h, 4, and 8-months after the surgery. In each period of evaluation, the area (mm2) of the bone lesion was measured in the images, and the values for the three methods were compared. The area in the CBCT images was measured in the mesio-distal sections comprising the largest diameter of the lesion. Data were submitted to repeated measures 2-way ANOVA and t-tests with Bonferroni correction. There was significant difference between the periods of evaluation (p=0.002) regarding the assessed periapical bone lesion area. There was no statistically significant difference between the methods of evaluation (p=0.023). In the CBCT images the lesion areas were 10% larger than those observed in the conventional IRs (22.84 mm2) and 15% larger than those observed in the digital IRs (21.48 mm2). From the baseline (40.12 mm2) to 4 (20.06 mm2) and 8-months (9.40 mm2), reductions of 50 and 77% in the lesion area, respectively, were observed (p<0.0001). From 4 to 8-months, this value was 53%. Progressive bone repair could be seen from 48 h to 8-months following endodontic surgery based on two- (conventional and digital IRs) and three-dimensional (CBCT) evaluation. CBCT images provided results similar to those assessed by means of IRs.