Periapical Radiograph has a High Accuracy and an Alternative Imaging Modality in the Third Molar Impaction Cases

Introduction: Impaction is a condition when a tooth suffers from a complete eruption failure on its right position due to the lack of curvace room on the jaw. Periapical radiography has an important role in detecting third molar impaction disease. Recently, panoramic radiograph has become the standard in diagnosing the third molar impaction.Objective: The objective set for this study is to evaluate the accuracy of the periapical radiograph based on the standard which is the panoramic radiograph on the third molar impaction cases.Materials and Method:  This study belongs to that of analytic observational by employing diagnostic testing method on primary data. It employed 35 samples which were then cross tabulated using 2x2 analysis table.The result of the grouping was then inserted into the formula for sensitivity, spesificity, positive predictive value, negative productive value, accuracy and ROC graphic.Result: The result of this study shows that the score for sensitivity reaches 96%, 33.3% for spesificity, 80.6% for positive predictive value, 75% for negative predictive value, 80% for accuracy, and 77.8% for ROC graphic. Conclusion: periapical radiograph can be used as an alternative checking up in diagnosing third molar impaction cases. However, it is not used as a panoramic substitute which still serves as the standard.