Convenient model of hard tissue simulation for dental radiographic research and instruction

BACKGROUND The authors describe a technique for building an alternative jawbone phantom using dental gypsum and rice for research and dental radiology instruction. AIM To investigate the potential of an alternative phantom to simulate the trabecular bone aspect of the human maxilla in periapical radiographs. METHODS Half-maxillary phantoms built from gypsum-ground rice were exposed to X-rays, and the resulting images (experimental group) were compared to standardized radiographic images produced from dry human maxillary bone (control group) (n = 7). The images were blindly assessed according to strict criteria by three examiners for the usual trabecular aspects of the surrounding bone, and significant differences between groups and in assessment reliability were compared using Fisher’s exact and kappa tests (α = 0.05). RESULTS The differences in the trabecular aspects between groups were not statistically significant. In addition, interobserver agreement among observers was 0.43 and 0.51 for the control and experimental groups, respectively, whereas intraobserver agreement was 0.71 and 0.73, respectively. CONCLUSION The tested phantom seemed to demonstrate potential for trabecular bone image simulation on maxillary periapical radiographs.