- 269 - Imaging Science in Dentistry 2018; 48: 269-75 https://doi.org/10.5624/isd.2018.48.4.269 Introduction Dental implants are considered to be an ideal option for the rehabilitation of edentulous jaws due to their sta- ble outcomes and high success rates. 1 Despite the high predictability of dental implants, complications are still encountered. These complications may be associated with various factors, such as treatment planning, the anatomy of the site, and the surgical technique and experience of the practitioner. 2 A thorough clinical and radiological ex- amination plays an important role in avoiding complica- tions and enhancing the success of the treatment. Intraoral radiography, panoramic radiography, com- puted tomography (CT), and cone-beam CT (CBCT) are frequently-used imaging modalities in treatment planning that improve long-term treatment success. 3 Of these mo- dalities, panoramic radiography has been widely used, since it has the advantages of being cost-effective, readily available, and providing high-resolution images. 4 Pan- oramic radiography is a unique tool in terms of offering Comparing the precision of panoramic radiography and cone-beam computed tomography in avoiding anatomical structures critical to dental implant surgery: A retrospective study Öznur Özalp 1, * , Hüseyin Alican Tezerişener 1 , Burak Kocabalkan 1 , Ulviye Şebnem Büyükkaplan 2 , Mehmet Mustafa Özarslan 2 , Göksel Şimşek Kaya 1 , Mehmet Ali Altay 1 , Alper Sindel 1 1 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey 2 Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey ABSTRACT Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlations between measurements made using panoramic radiography and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) based on certain anatomical landmarks of the jaws, with the goal of preventing complications due to inaccurate measurements in the pre-surgical planning phase of dental implant placement. Materials and Methods: A total of 56 individuals who underwent panoramic radiography and a CBCT evaluation before dental implant surgery were enrolled in the study. Measurements were performed to identify the shortest vertical distance between the alveolar crest and neighboring anatomical structures, including the maxillary sinus, nasal floor, mandibular canal, and foramen mentale. The differences between the measurements on panoramic radiography and CBCT images were statistically analyzed. Results: Statistically signifcant differences were observed between the measurements on panoramic radiography and CBCT for all anatomical structures (P<.05). The correlation coefficients (r) between the paired samples obtained from panoramic radiography and CBCT were closely correlated (P<.05), with r values varying from 0.921 and 0.979 for different anatomical regions. Conclusion: The results of this study support the idea that panoramic radiography might provide sufficient information on bone height for preoperative implant planning in routine cases or when CBCT is unavailable. However, an additional CBCT evaluation might be helpful in cases where a safety margin cannot be respected due to insuffcient bone height. (Imaging Sci Dent 2018; 48: 269-75) KEY WORDS: Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; Dental Implants; Radiography, Panoramic Copyright ⓒ 2018 by Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Imaging Science in Dentistry·pISSN 2233-7822 eISSN 2233-7830 Received July 23, 2018; Revised October 7, 2018; Accepted October 19, 2018 *Correspondence to : Dr. Öznur Özalp Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Akdeniz University, Dumlupinar Boulevard, Campus, Antalya, 07058, Turkey Tel) 90-507-577-1530, Fax) 90-242-310-6967, E-mail) oznur_ozalp_@hotmail.com