Radiographic measurements of alveolar bone loss in the rat

Optimal parameters for lateral oblique radiographs of rat mandibles

“…9 The standardization of radiographic exposures in animal models has been investigated, but procedures still require high-cost equipment and are time-consuming. 3 Radiographic studies with rats have used mammography films, 5 dental radiography films, [10][11][12] intraoral 4 or oclusal, 12,13 and low kilovoltage X-ray sources. [14][15][16] These studies do not seem to have reached satisfactory results -as they were not employed in more recent studies -and other methods to obtain images, such as X-ray absorptiometry, bone densitometry [17][18][19][20][21] and micro X-ray CT [22][23][24][25] have been investigated.…”

“…1 However, the radiographic procedures usually adopted to obtain linear measures of larger animals and human beings are complicated in rats because of their small size. 2 Moreover, low-power X-ray machines have to be used to record detailed images of anatomical structures, such as the cementoenamel junction, [3][4][5][6] and a positioning device has to be used to ensure reproducibility of radiographic exposures in the same animal. 5 However, few studies in the literature 3,5 report attempts to establish geometric standardization of the process of obtaining radiographs of the mandible of live rats.…”

“…2,3 Fontanella et al 7 developed and tested a positioning apparatus for oblique lateral radiographs of the mandible using five formaldehyde-preserved heads of rats and dental films. The tested apparatus ensured standardization for the detection of subtle bone losses using digital subtraction of images.…”

Evaluation by digital subtraction radiography of induced changes in the bone density of the female rat mandible

“…14 Notwithstanding, radiographic procedures designed to obtain measurements used with large animals and humans are problematic, if not impossible, due to the small size of rats. 15 The first difficulty encountered is the need for a device which ensures the reproducibility of radiographic views of the same animal, immobilizing live rats during the X-ray. 16 For this purpose, prior to this study the authors developed a positioning device for taking lateral X-rays of rodent mandibles, which proved to result in reproducible images.…”

“…15,16 We have previously evaluated the ideal exposure conditions for the technique being employed, 12 finding that excellent quality images could be obtained using Espeed film, a focal distance of 30 cm and exposure time of 1 s, with an X-ray unit operating at 8 mA at 50 kVp, which is the configuration used in this study.…”