Evaluation of inflammatory diseases of jaw bones with three-dimensional CT imaging Comparison with conventional radiography and high-resolution CT

The diagnostic value of three-dimensional (3-D) CT imaging in various inflammatory conditions of the jaw bones was assessed in 6 patients and was compared together with high-resolution CT imaging and conventional radiographs. Though 3-D CT imaging provides no new information when viewing a series of axial high-resolution CT, 3-D CT could provide the enhanced perception of the changes of the bone surface topographically. With 3-D CT the defects on the bone surface and the spread of periosteal new bone formation were easier to interpret and more accessible, these could be overlooked even by high-resolution CT. 3-D CT images were variable up to the conditions of the threshold selection for 3-D reconstruction. Therefore, it was thought that it is very important to interpret the high-resolution CT used properly before the reconstruction procedure of 3-D CT imaging.