Jasmine M Aly, Reham M Hamdy, Mahmoud Shalash And Hossam Kandiel,

ABSTRACT
The First Implementation Of Dental CBCT Stitch Module Carried Out In 2010 Paved The Way Towards Wider Range Of Clinical Applications For Small Field Of View (SFOV) And Increased The Affordability Of CBCT Systems. Limited Diagnostic Studies Were Carried Out To Assess The Accuracy Of The Stitch Module. This Study Aimed To Assess The Diagnostic Accuracy Of Stitched Small Field Of View (SSFOV) CBCT In Mandibular Linear Measurements Of Dry Human Mandibles.

Materials and Methods: Fifteen Mandibles Included In The Study Were Marked At 18 Anatomic Sites And Were Identified By Gutta Percha Rodes. Twenty Six Linear Measurements Were Performed Directly Using Digital Caliper For Each Mandible (gold Stander). The Mandibles Were Immersed Under Tap Water For Soft Tissue Simulation. Planmeca Promax 3D MID CBCT Machine Was Used To Scan The Mandibles Using 50 X 80 Mm FOV And 200 ?m Voxel Resolution. Each Mandible Was Scanned 4 Times Sequentially To Cover The Entire Mandible. Stitching Was Conducted To Combine The Scanned Volumes Sequentially To Generate A Full Composite Image Of The Entire Mandible. Planmeca Romexis Viewer 3.5.1R, 3D Software Was Used To Record The Same 26 Linear Measurements. Statistical Analysis: Quantitative Variables Were Described. Normality Hypothesis Of All Quantitative Variables Were Checked For Further Choice Of Appropriate Parametric And Non-parametric Tests. For Inter- And Intra-observer Reliability, Interclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) Including 95% Confidence Limits Was Used. The Significance Level Was Set At P ? 0.05.

Results: As The Data Showed Normal Distribution, Independent Sample T Test Was Used For Comparing The Direct And The CBCT Linear Measurements. In All Of The Measurements, No Statistically Significance Difference Was Found Between The Direct Linear Measurements And CBCT Linear Measurements. Excellent Inter-observer And Intra-observer Reliability Was Found. Conclusion: Within The Limitations Of This Study, It Can Be Concluded That CBCT Stitch Module Using SSFOV Is An Accurate Tool To Generate A Larger Composite Image Of The Entire Mandible.