Abstract
Objective: We investigated the precision and accuracy of methods to detect caries lesions on the occlusal surface in vitro using ICDAS and radiological image. Methodology: Human third molars (n=14) were placed in an acrylic resin base and maintained wet during the study. The occlusal surfaces were visually inspected by three examiners using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) method. The condition of each tooth was registered by images obtained with Digital Radiography (DR), Microcomputed Tomography (µ-CT) and Histologic Specimen (HS). For each tooth and method utilized in the study, an image was selected based on the largest extension of caries found, wherein the three examiners attributed a score to the lesion in accordance with the visual description of each method. The Kappa index, Fisher’s exact test and the Spearman´s correlation coefficient were used for evaluating reliability and accuracy, with a significance level of 5%. Results: Considerable interobserver reliability values were found for ICDAS (k = 0.701), almost perfect for µ-CT (k = 0.855) and HS (k = 0.920), and reasonable for DR (k = 0.221). Significant statistical difference was observed for ICDAS (p < 0.05), and for DR and µ-CT methods (p < 0.01). The correlation was moderate for ICDAS (r = 0.597), high for DR (r = 0.764) and perfect for µ-CT (1.000). Conclusions: the most reliability method for detecting caries lesions on occlusal surfaces in vitro was µ-CT, followed by ICDAS and DR. The most accurate method was µ-CT, followed by DR and ICDAS.
Highlights
The diagnosis of caries lesions on the occlusal surfaces of human teeth is commonly done by conventional methods—visual inspection and tactile exam—by which the dentist detects the presence of the disease with the unaided eye or in association with a blunt-tip dental explorer (Ismail, 2004)
Objective: We investigated the precision and accuracy of methods to detect caries lesions on the occlusal surface in vitro using International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and radiological image
This method was studied in this research with the purpose of comparing it to the methods based on X-rays and to the histologic specimen method so as to assess its performance in detecting caries lesions on the occlusal surfaces of third molars
Summary
The diagnosis of caries lesions on the occlusal surfaces of human teeth is commonly done by conventional methods—visual inspection and tactile exam—by which the dentist detects the presence of the disease with the unaided eye or in association with a blunt-tip dental explorer (Ismail, 2004). Developed in 2002, the ICDAS is the most recent effort by researchers to create a tool for diagnosing caries through scientifically based evidences about systems of clinical detection of caries (Banting et al, 2012) It is a clinical method for visual inspection that describes a standard for measuring a caries lesion, detecting it in different degrees of severity, and assessing its extension in a systematic manner—both on an individual and collective level—and classifying it (Braga et al, 2009; Zandoná & Zero, 2006). This study was conducted to assess the reliability and accuracy of methods of detecting caries lesions on occlusal surfaces in vitro using ICDAS, digital radiography and μ-CT
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