Radiovisiography versus conventional radiography for detection of small instruments in endodontic length determination. II. In vivo evaluation.

Radiovisiography was compared clinically to conventional D-speed and E-speed radiographs viewed with X 2 magnification using the mesiobuccal root of maxillary molars of 22 patients. Clarity of size 8 and 10 endodontic file tips in relation to the radiographic apex was the object of comparison. Five images of radovisiography, (original, enhanced, negative-to-positive mode), were compared to D-speed and E-speed radiographs. D-speed radiographs were also compared to E-speed radiographs. D-speed radiographs were statistically superior to all five radiovisiography images. Four of the radiovisiography images were equivalent to E-speed radiographs. D-speed radiographs provided superior recognition of small file tips when compared to E-speed radiographs 100% of the time. Accurate identification of the small file tips was achieved on 95% of D-speed and 70% of E-speed radiographs. With radiovisiography, identification was achieved on 95% of the zoom images in the negative-to-positive mode, 86% of enhanced, 82% of standard zoom, and 77% of the images in negative-to-positive conversion.