Radiographic Assessment of Proximal Caries: A Comparison between Film-based and Dexis Digital Imaging Systems

Abstract

This study compared Kodak Ektaspeed film and Dexis digital imaging systems for their diagnostic accuracy in detection of proximal caries in 210 proximal surfaces from 105 extracted human teeth (20 premolars and 85 molars), 129 of which were carious. Ground teeth were evaluated histologically. The images were assessed by an observer. ANOVA revealed that groups differ in scoring patterns with f-value of 26.72 and p < 0.01. The mean caries score by histologic assessment was significantly (p < 0.01) more when compared with the scores obtained by conventional and Dexis digital radiographic methods. The mean score for conventional radiographic method was slightly more than Dexis digital radiographic method, but the difference was statistically insignificant (p < 0.05). Both the radiographic methods were less accurate in detecting proximal caries confined to enamel, but as the lesion depth was increased to dentin, the rate of caries detection increased dramatically. It was concluded that both conventional and Dexis digital radiographic methods under estimated caries depth when compared with histologic method. Lastly, conventional film radiographs and Dexis digital radiographs did not perform significantly different from each other in the detection of caries.