The Relation Between Maxillary Sinus Floor and Posterior Maxillary Teeth Roots Using Panoramic and Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Introduction: Understanding the anatomical and pathological relationships between posterior teeth or edentulous area with maxillary sinus is essential for diagnosis and treatment management.The present study aimed to assess the relationship between maxillary sinus floor and posterior teeth roots using panoramic radiography and Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: In this analytical cross-sectional study, 440 maxillary first and second premolars, and first and second molars of 55 patients were selected by the census method. The patients were referred to Sajad Maxillofacial Radiology and Navabazam Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic in Yazd City from 2011 to 2015. The relationship between each root and maxillary sinus floor was examined by oral radiologist and trained dentistry student using CBCT and panoramic radiography. To check the reproducibility of the first observer, a second observer examined 20 radiographs daily for five days and in random orders. No difference was found between the observers. The collected data were analyzed by ANOVA, Chi square, Fisher’s exact test, and t test using SPSS (P≤0.05). Results: The agreement between CBCT and panoramic radiographs in determining root form was measured with kappa, which was found as 0.549 (P=0.0001). This implies that CBCT and panoramic radiographs showed an agreement in determining the position of maxillary sinus floor and posterior teeth roots. The difference between calculated mean (SD) distances of the two methods was 0.74(2.92) mm (P=0.0001). This indicates that the measurements by panoramic radiographs differ from CBCT. Conclusion: Our study results supports use of CBCT to establish the exact correlation between maxillary sinus floor and posterior teeth roots, especially in classification 3 (projected in panoramic radiographs) for reducing damages and infection transmission.