Influence of increased slice thickness and sharpening filter application in the detection of bone graft loss around implants.

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of increasing slice thickness and applying sharpening filters on the diagnosis of bone graft loss in regions adjacent to zirconia implants using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: Twelve zirconia implants were inserted into mandibles, followed by bone graft application. Graft loss was then simulated in half of the samples. CBCT scans were obtained using 2 devices (OP300 and Eagle 3D) with parameters set at 90 kVp, 8 mA, and a 133 µm voxel size. Five examiners assessed the scans under different conditions: original thickness, 1 mm, 2 mm, no filter, Sharpen 1×, and Sharpen 2×. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were calculated and compared using 2-way analysis of variance (α=5%). Results: For the OP300 device, increasing slice thickness to 1 mm impaired AUC, sensitivity, and specificity metrics ( Conclusion: For 1 device, a 1 mm increase in slice thickness impaired the diagnosis of bone graft loss in areas adjacent to zirconia implants. However, the application of sharpening filters helped mitigate this impairment.