Abstract
Background: Caries detection in school oral examinations insufficient accuracy. Objective: To evaluate advantages of introducing quantitative light-induced fluorescence-digital (QLF-D) in school oral examinations. Methods: Experiment No. 1. Early demineralized lesions in the upper and lower incisors and canines were visually inspected by three dentists and by QLF-D. The numbers of tooth planes with early demineralized lesions were compared between the methods. Experiment No. 2. Approximal demineralized lesions in molars were assessed by visual inspection, x-ray imaging, and QLF-D. The numbers of tooth planes with demineralized lesions were compared among the methods. Experiment No. 3. Plaque distribution was evaluated by QLF-D and a traditional staining method. The ratio of the diameter of plaque to tooth crown in the tooth axis direction in each method was calculated. The results were evaluated by Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis and Bland-Altman plot. Results: Experiment No. 1. The three dentists found 0.67 tooth planes on average. QLF-D found 22 tooth planes with early demineralized lesions in the same samples. Experiment No. 2. Fourteen approximal tooth planes of molars were found to have demineralized lesions by x-ray imaging. QLF-D detected 71.4% of the tooth planes out of the 14, whereas visual inspection found 7.1%. Experiment No. 3. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient for the evaluations of plaque distribution between the QLF-D and traditional staining methods was 0.77 (P < 0.001). No statistically significant systematic error was found through the Bland-Altman Plot analysis. Conclusion: The results support introduction of QLF-D for use in school dental examinations.
Highlights
Objective, safe, and easy-to-use means of evaluating demineralized lesions have not been available outside of dental offices, so dental checkups at schools must primarily rely on visual inspection in Japan
quantitative light-induced fluorescence-digital (QLF-D) detected four tooth planes with early demineralized lesions in a child who had been determined to have had an average number of 0.67 tooth planes with early demineralized lesions through the visual inspection
QLF-D detected nine out of 14 tooth planes that had demineralized lesions in which the lesion was found by radiography
Summary
Safe, and easy-to-use means of evaluating demineralized lesions have not been available outside of dental offices, so dental checkups at schools must primarily rely on visual inspection in Japan. According to a survey by the Japanese government, the caries prevalence ratio decreased to 35.3% among ≤14-year-old Japanese children in 2016 This finding indicated that many children do not have an obvious cavity in their mouth and that dentists are expected to detect early demineralized lesions, which are more common than cavities but can be found only by professionals. With the goal of introducing quantitative light-induced fluorescence-digital (QLF-D) into school dental checkups, the abilities to detect early carious lesions and evaluate plaque distribution on the tooth surface between traditional methods and QLF-D were compared in available surroundings as school dental checkups. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient for the evaluations of plaque distribution between the QLF-D and traditional staining methods was 0.77 (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The results support introduction of QLF-D for use in school dental examinations
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