Fractal dimension and lacunarity analysis of dental radiographs

Objective: As the occlusal forces transmitted to the jaw bones during mastication might be different in dentate and edentulous regions, there might be different radiographical trabecular bone texture in these regions. Image analysis procedures are promising techniques which are used to detect structural changes of bone texture on radiographs. In this study, the differences of fractal dimension (FD) and lacunarity measurements of radiographical trabecular bone between dentate and edentulous regions were investigated. Methods: Direct digital radiographs of premolar-molar region were taken from 51 patients who were included in our study. Two rectangular regions of interest (ROIs) with the same dimensions (37 X 119 pixels) were created on these radiographs; one in the edentulous region and the other one in the dentate region. The ROIs were segmented as black and white areas. Box-counting fractal dimension and lacunarity of these regions were calculated. Results: Paired samples t-test and Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. It was found that there were differences between dentate and edentulous regions for FD and lacunarity (P = 0.000). There is a negative correlation between FD and lacunarity (-0.643, P < 0.01), positive correlation between dentate and edentulous regions and FD (0.819, P < 0.01), and a negative correlation between lacunarity and dentate and edentulous regions (-0.541, P < 0.01). Conclusions: The differences of occlusal forces generated in dentate and edentulous regions during mastication cause some alterations in trabecular bone structure, and fractal dimension and lacunarity can reveal these alterations quantitatively. © 2005 The British Institute of Radiology.