Comparing third molar root development staging in panoramic radiography, extracted teeth, and cone beam computed tomography

This study aimed at performing and comparing third molar development staging in extracted teeth (EX), panoramic radiography (PAN), and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Extracted third molars (n = 158, 95 maxillary, 63 mandibular) from 102 patients (36 males, 66 females) having at least one preoperative PAN and one CBCT were studied. Third molar development staging was performed in PAN, EX, and CBCT using Gleiser et al. (1955) technique modified by Kohler et al (1994). A polytomous logistic regression model was used to compare the staging performed in EX and CBCT with the gold standard staging in PAN. The pair-wise stage comparisons between third molar modalities revealed 63.3% equal staging. In all other comparisons, a maximum difference of one stage was detected. No statistically significant differences between the three staging modalities were detected (p = 0.26). The comparison between EX and PAN staging revealed higher similarity (p = 0.98 in stages 5-10) than the comparison between CBCT and PAN staging (p = 0.81 in stages 5, 7, and 9, and p = 0.80 in stages 6, 8, and 10). The studied third molar staging technique originally designed in PAN can be applied for third molar staging EX and in CBCT.