Reliability assessment between clinical attachment loss and alveolar bone level in dental radiographs

Abstract

Background: The clinical attachment level (CAL) and radiographically assessed bone levels are used to assess the loss of periodontal tissue support in periodontitis, a chronic, multifactorial inflammatory disease of the periodontium. However, few studies have been done to study the relationship between these two parameters. According to our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the relationship between the two measurements using intraclass correlation analysis. Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between CAL and radiographically assessed bone level in teeth affected with periodontitis. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted by selecting a sample of 880 periodontal sites in 104 periodontitis patients, aged 25–60 years. CAL and peri-apical radiographs of the selected sites were obtained from the computerized patient records. The distance from the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) to the base of the alveolar bone level (ABL) was measured. The data was analyzed using SPSS. Results: Intraclass correlation analysis (ICC) revealed a moderate degree of reliability between CAL and CEJ to ABL measurements. The average ICC was 0.68 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.53–0.77 (p