Abstract
The aim of this study was to conduct an in vivo investigation of the correlation between the visual and radiographic scoring systems by Ekstrand et al.7 (1997) for the diagnosis of occlusal caries lesions. The study sample comprised 147 occlusal sites from 23 patients. Two trained and experienced examiners performed the clinical visual examinations. A third examiner, which was also trained, experienced and blind to the results of the visual clinical examination, performed the analysis of the bitewing radiographs. The correlation between visual and radiographic scores was assessed by Goodman & Kruskal's gamma correlation coefficient. Results showed a strong correlation between the scores for occlusal caries found in the visual and radiographic diagnosis systems used in this study.
Highlights
Due to the growing interest in the effect of preventive and non-preventive measures and to the large variation in the clinical and radiographic thresholds used, studies have been proposed to assess the methods traditionally used for the diagnosis of caries lesions in the occlusal surface . 6,8,9,11,15,17The clinical and radiographic record of occlusal caries lesions requires a diagnostic system that reflects the dynamic nature of the caries disease in all its stages of progression, so that the different lesion stages can be more accurately identified, with special attention to the improvement of the visual method
According to Machiulskiene et al.[12] (1999), when clinically non-cavitated caries are not taken into account in clinical examination, bitewing radiographs may be used as additional information to detect these lesions[13]; if non-cavitated caries lesions are included during the clinical examination, the additional information provided by bitewing radiographs may be questionable
These observations indicate that the clinical criteria used in diagnosis are critical and that they determine the value of the additional information obtained by the bitewing radiographic examination
Summary
Due to the growing interest in the effect of preventive and non-preventive measures and to the large variation in the clinical and radiographic thresholds used, studies have been proposed to assess the methods traditionally used for the diagnosis of caries lesions in the occlusal surface . 6,8,9,11,15,17The clinical and radiographic record of occlusal caries lesions requires a diagnostic system that reflects the dynamic nature of the caries disease in all its stages of progression, so that the different lesion stages can be more accurately identified, with special attention to the improvement of the visual method. According to Machiulskiene et al.[12] (1999), when clinically non-cavitated caries are not taken into account in clinical examination, bitewing radiographs may be used as additional information to detect these lesions[13]; if non-cavitated caries lesions are included during the clinical examination, the additional information provided by bitewing radiographs may be questionable. These observations indicate that the clinical criteria used in diagnosis are critical and that they determine the value of the additional information obtained by the bitewing radiographic examination. Braz Oral Res 2004;18(2):[145-9]
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