Investigation of the effect of field of view on the amount of dental implant artifacts in cone beam computed tomography images

Abstract Background CBCT is widely used in dentistry and is used for a variety of purposes. The presence of different artifacts can reduce the quality of images. Since the implants mainly contain metals, they can cause many artifacts in CBCT images. Due to the importance of CBCT and the effects of artifacts on the final image quality, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of FOV size on the artifacts. Methods Three human skulls with unbroken mandible and maxilla were selected. CBCT images were prepared under normal exposure conditions and with three ranges of FOV (4 × 5 cm2, 5 × 8 cm2, 8 × 8 cm2). Then an implant was placed in the empty dental sockets in the incisor, canine, and premolar areas, and CBCT images were taken with similar conditions. The Hounsfield Unit obtained before and after implant placement was compared, and their difference was considered as metal artifact. Data were analyzed using two-factor variance analysis. Results In this study, the mean difference of artifacts with a large FOV in both jaws and in the mandible for medium and small radiation ranges from the central to the premolar side was always decreasing. However, in the maxilla for the medium and small radiation ranges, the mean difference increased from the central side to the canine, but again decreased relatively significantly from the canine to the premolar. The mean interaction between the dental areas and the FOV sizes was not significant (p = 0.997), and it was found that the amount of artifacts in the studied areas does not change with changing the size of the FOV. Also there was no significant difference of artifacts between the three types of FOV size (p = 0.730), but there was a significant difference between the dental areas (p = 0.020). Conclusions According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the amount of metal artifacts is not related to the size of FOV. However, it is related to the position of the implant in the jaws and the density of the surrounding tissues.