“Assessment of Response of Dental Clinicians and Patients towards Different Imaging Modalities Used In Diagnostic Evaluation of Dental Implant Therapy.”

Aim: To assess the response of clinicians and patient towards various imaging modalities used in diagnostic evaluation of dental implant therapy. Materials and Methods: 200 clinicians with more than 5 years of experience in implant dentistry were selected in study. Every clinician was requested to judge accessibility, maneuverability, accuracy, reproducibility, reliability, ease of understanding of target anatomy, ease of imaging documentation and ability to increase dental awareness through provided questionnaire, for each imaging modality. 70 patients seeking dental implant therapy were assigned into 7 different groupIOPA (n=10), OPG (n=10), Lat. Ceph (n=10), conventional CT (n=10) and Spiral CT (n=`10), CBCT (n=10) and ICGI (n=10). Patients were advised to undergo radiographic imaging procedure specific to respective group. Results: The clinicians in highly preferred the crosssectional imaging over conventional radiographic imaging for diagnosis and treatment planning of implant. Among cross-sectional imaging, preference was greater for CBCT, ICGI and Spiral CT scan than conventional CT scan. Patient responded and tolerated the procedure very well for the cross sectional imaging than conventional radiographic imaging modalities. However, expense and accessibility were the only negative factor for crosssectional imaging. Conclusion: The clinician and patient response for cone beam Computed tomography either individually or associated with Interactive computer guided implantology, and Spiral CT scan were magnificent over conventional radiography for treatment planning of dental implant.