Oral imaging as a diagnostic tool for assessing osseous changes.

Abstract

Practical use of images for diagnosis of osseous abnormalities presumes cost-effective technology that targets known physiologic processes. The most obvious modalities for such applications are radiographic, and the newest are characterized by quantitative methods expressed both tomographically and by means of digital subtraction registered in two and three dimensions. Quantitative nuclear medicine and possibly electron spin resonance spectroscopy also appear promising. New analytic techniques for interpreting osseous images include characterization of trabecular patterns by fractal descriptors and micromorphometry.