A comparison between clinical and digital images with various resolutions to evaluate glass ionomer cement restoration on primary teeth

Introduction

Dental photography has increasingly been used in practice. One of the purposes of dental photography is for treatment evaluation. Notably, photo resolution affects a picture’s quality. Glass ionomer cement (GIC) restorations are frequently used on pediatric teeth and must be evaluated periodically. In this digital era, digital photos can be used to evaluate restorations. The evaluation of restorations using FDI criteria is typically effective in clinical uses.

Objective

This study aims to compare differences in digital photo resolution and clinical results to evaluate GIC restoration in primary teeth.

Materials and methods

Forty mandibular primary first molars from 31 pediatric patients aged 4 to 9 years from Universitas Indonesia dental hospital were included in this study. All teeth were examined and clinically evaluated, and photos were taken using a DSLR camera with low resolution (8 MP), medium resolution (15 MP), and high resolution (32 MP). The photos were then evaluated. Clinical GIC restorations and digital photographs were evaluated using FDI criteria. All of the collected data were analyzed using a Pearson’s chi-square categorical comparative test with a significance level of p < 0.05.

Result

Based on the comparative test, there were no statistically significant differences in the clinical groups with low resolution, medium resolution, and high resolution for evaluating GIC restorations in primary teeth.

Conclusion

Digital photography can be used to support the evaluation of restoration status. Digital photos can indicate the clinical state of GIC restorations. This study recommends using digital photos between low and medium resolution (8–15.3 MP) as media in dental practices to evaluate GIC restorations in primary teeth, comparable to smartphone cameras or pocket cameras.