The Relation of Maxillary Posterior Teeth Roots to the Maxillary Sinus Floor Using Panoramic and Computed Tomography Imaging in a Sample of Kurdish People

The relation of maxillary posterior teeth roots to the maxillary sinus floor is important for diagnosing and planning of many surgical procedures. In order to determine of this relation two imaging technique were used in this study.Paired panoramic radiographs and computed tomography images of maxilla from 27 subjects were taken and analyzed in the teaching hospitals of Sulaimani city during the period from Jan to Aug 2009. For both imaging modalities a total of 146 maxillary teeth were grouped according to their topographic relationship to the inferior border of the maxillary sinus followed Kwak et al. classification, were 0 indicated no contact between the root and inferior border of the maxillary sinus); 1 indicated that the root is in contact with the inferior border of the maxillary sinus; 2 indicated that the root is projecting laterally on the maxillary sinus cavity but its apex is outside the sinus boundaries; 3 and 4 indicated that the teeth roots that projected on the maxillary sinus cavity. Then roots were measured according to their projection lengths in the sinus cavity.Results of this study show that there was a high correlation between the two imaging technique for classification 0 and 1 relations. The OPG showed statistically significant (P>0.001) longer root projection in the sinus cavity in comparison with the root protrusion into the sinus measured by using CT images.As conclusion; for the majority of the roots projecting on the sinus cavity in panoramic radiographs, no vertical protrusion into the sinus was observed in CT images. Roots protrude into the sinus in the CT showed shorter projection length in comparison with panoramic radiography. Panoramic radiographs can provide adequate assessment about relation of the maxillary sinus floor. CT is indicated to provide the information about the relation to the maxillary sinus floor when there is protrusion detected in panoramic images.