COMPARISON OF CONVENTIONAL RADIOGRAPHY AND DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY IN REGULAR AND REVERSAL IMAGE MODES FOR DETECTION OF PERIAPICAL PATHOLOGY USING INTRAORAL PERIAPICAL RADIOGRAPHS AND ALVEOLAR BONE LOSS DEPTH USING BITEWING RADIOGRAPHS.

Background: Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of the supporting tissues of the teeth caused by specific microorganisms, resulting in destruction of the periodontal ligament and alveolar bone. Progressive loss of alveolar bone is the salient feature of periodontal disease. Accurate detection of periodontal disease with the use of radiographs helps in diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Aim: The aim of the study is to analyze and compare the efficacy of conventional intraoral periapical(IOPA) and digital radiographs(PSP) in detecting periapical lesion and interdental bone loss depth in chronic periodontitis Materials and methods: A total of 60 subjects will be included in the study aged between 20-60 years consisting of 30 subjects who have generalized moderate to severe chronic periodontitis, and another 30 subjects with dental caries, history of trauma and discoloration. Results: The overall results shows the mean difference between both the conventional and digital bitewing radiographs was -0.34883 and the standard deviation difference were 1.137 which is statistically significant. It was observed that digital bitewing radiographs evaluated about 0.3489mm greater bone loss on an average than conventional bitewing radiographs. mean difference between both conventional and digital was 0.3917 and the standard deviation difference was 0.04281 which was not statistically significant. It was observed that conventional radiograph shows a greater extent of the periapical pathology, the overall difference is 0.3917mm on an average. Conclusion: With the limitations in this study, We conclude that digital radiography is the choice of imaging modality for interdental bone loss. We found that both digital and conventional radiography more or less have same significant value in detecting periapical lesions.