Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate 3-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of alveolar bone changes in patients who underwent minimally invasive periodontal surgery-namely, the pinhole surgical technique (PST). Materials and Methods: Alveolar bone height was measured and compared on CBCT images of 254 teeth from 23 consecutive patients with Miller class I, II, or III recession who had undergone PST. No patient with active periodontal disease was selected for surgery. Two different methods were used to assess the alveolar bone changes postoperatively. In both methods, the distance between the apex of the tooth and the mid-buccal alveolar crestal bone on pre- and post-surgical CBCT studies was measured. Results: An average alveolar bone gain >0.5 mm following PST was identified using CBCT (P=0.05). None of the demographic variables, including sex, age, and time since surgery, had any significant effect on bone gain during follow-up, which ranged from 8 months to 3 years. Conclusion PST appears to be a promising treatment modality for recession that results in stable clinical outcomes and may lead to some level of resolution on the bone level. More long-term studies must be done to evaluate the impact of this novel technique on bone remodeling and to assess sustained bone levels within a larger study population.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess artifacts generated in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) of 3 types of dental implants using 3 metal artifact reduction (MAR) algorithm conditions (pre-acquisition MAR, postacquisition MAR, and no MAR), and 2 peak kilovoltage (kVp) settings. Materials and Methods: Titanium-zirconium, titanium, and zirconium alloy implants were placed in a dry mandible. CBCT images were acquired using 84 and 90 kVp and at normal resolution for all 3 MAR conditions. The images were analyzed using ImageJ software (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD) to calculate the intensity of artifacts for each combination of material and settings. A 3-factor analysis of variance model with up to 3-way interactions was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in the mean intensity of artifacts associated with each factor. Results: The analysis of all 3 MAR conditions showed that using no MAR resulted in substantially more severe artifacts than either of the 2 MAR algorithms for the 3 implant materials; however, there were no significant differences between pre- and post-acquisition MAR. The 90 kVp setting generated less intense artifacts on average than the 84 kVp setting. The titanium-zirconium alloy generated significantly less intense artifacts than zirconium. Titanium generated artifacts at an intermediate level relative to the other 2 implant materials, but was not statistically significantly different from either. Conclusion This in vitro study suggests that artifacts can be minimized by using a titanium-zirconium alloy at the 90 kVp setting, with either MAR setting.