Evaluating the effects of orthodontic materials, field of view, and artifact reduction mode on accuracy of CBCT-based caries detection.

Abstract

To investigate the influence of orthodontic materials, field of view (FOV), and artifact reduction (AR) on the assessment of approximal caries using cone beam computed tomography. Forty non-cavitated and restoration-free human premolars and molars ranging from sound to various grades of lesions without cavitations were assigned to 13 groups with different combination of fix appliance equipment. CBCT (cone beam computed tomography) (Planmeca ProMax 3D Mid, Helsinki, Finland) images were obtained using combinations of three orthodontic bracket materials and two orthodontic archwire with small and large FOVs and with and without AR activation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to calculate the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Interobserver agreement ranged from 0.44 to 0.92 and intraobserver agreement ranged from 0.50 to 0.99. Teeth lacking orthodontic materials had the highest Az values at 0.84. FOV and AR activation did not significantly affect AUC values (P> 0.05). The AUC data were significantly reduced by the addition of stainless steel wire, NT wire, or a combination of a stainless steel bracket with stainless steel wire (P< 0.05). The addition of stainless steel wire, NT wire, or a stainless steel bracket with stainless steel wire combination prevented the diagnosis of non-cavitated interproximal tooth caries by CBCT. With and without AR modes and different FOVs did not influence the diagnosis of interproximal caries lesions with different types of orthodontic equipment. A wide variety of brackets and wire combinations are used in the clinic; however, the extent to which these combinations impact the diagnosis of caries by CBCT as the effects of FOV and AR algorithms are unknown.