Occlusal Caries In Permanent Teeth Research Articles

Validation of DIAGNOdent laser fluorescence and the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) in diagnosis of occlusal caries in permanent teeth: an in vivo study.

The aim of this in vivo study was to validate the DIAGNOdent laser fluorescence method and the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) for caries classification against the gold standard, histological examination, for detecting occlusal caries on permanent molars; the thresholds used were the outer enamel (D1), the inner enamel and outer third of the dentine (D2), and the inner two-thirds of the dentine (D3). Patients with non-impacted third molars (n = 43) were recruited from a university clinic. A trained examiner performed the examinations. After the teeth were extracted, the histological criterion was used to determine the severity of the lesions. Intra-examiner agreement (weighted kappa) for ICDAS was 0.60 and reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) for DIAGNOdent was 0.968. The correlations with the histological reference were weak for DIAGNOdent (rs = 0.369) and moderate for ICDAS (rs = 0.515). The areas under the receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve at D1, D2, and D3 were 0.60, 0.69, and 0.91, respectively, for ICDAS and 0.55, 0.65, and 0.92, respectively, for DIAGNOdent. ICDAS and DIAGNOdent proved to be reproducible methods with similar performance in the detection of occlusal carious lesions in dentine. The ability of DIAGNOdent to detect initial enamel lesions was higher than that of ICDAS, but with low specificity. The usefulness of DIAGNOdent as an adjunct method for assessment of initial occlusal caries in permanent molars is questionable.

Occlusal Caries Management: Preferences among Dentists in Norway

The aim was to measure variations in the threshold for operative treatment of occlusal caries in permanent teeth and the use of dental materials, compared with results from a similar study conducted in Norway in 1995. In 2009, a precoded questionnaire was sent electronically to 3,654 dentists with E-mail addresses in the member register of the Norwegian Dental Association. The questions were related to caries, treatment strategies and choice of dental materials. Replies were obtained from 61.3% respondents after two reminders. Restorative treatment of occlusal lesions confined to enamel was proposed by 12% of the dentists, compared with 18% in 1995 (p < 0.01). Older dentists more often than younger dentists would operatively treat enamel lesions (p < 0.01). Most dentists preferred to drill only the carious part of the fissure rather than the whole fissure both in 2009 (78.8%) and 1995 (68.3%; p < 0.01). In 2009, 91.9% preferred composite as the restorative material of choice, compared to only 39.1% in 1995. Logistic regression analyses identified higher age of the dentist as the only variable significantly associated with higher risk of restoring occlusal enamel lesions operatively. The authors conclude that especially young dentists appear to be more reluctant to remove tooth substance in 2009 compared with 1995. Composite is the dominating material of choice in 2009 and seems to have substituted the use of most other filling materials in occlusal restorations in permanent teeth.

Reproducibility of caries diagnosis in permanent teeth according to WHO, ICDAS-II and Nyvad criteria

Aim: To assess inter-examiner reproducibility in the detection of 20 occlusal caries in permanent teeth using three diagnostic codes and criteria: WHO (1997), Nyvad and ICDAS-II. Methods: Three graduate students (G) and two undergraduate dental students (UG) without previous experience in the use of Nyvad and ICDAS-II were trained by a reference examiner. Examiner validity was assessed by consensus agreement between the investigators. Two cutoff points were used for ICDAS-II and Nyvad to represent reproducibility values: the A- lesion, B- cavity lesion. Results: According to the examiners consensus, the kappa values ranged from 0.71 to 0.85 for G group and from 0.85 to 0.95 for UG group (ICDAS-II). For the Nyvad index values varied from of 0.77 to 1.00 (G) and from 0.65 to 0.74 (UG), for the WHO index, values obtained ranged from 0.66 to 1.00 (UG) and 1.00 (G). Using a cutoff A, interexaminers reproducibility (ICDAS-II) ranged from 0.73 to 0.87 (G) and 1.00 (UG). According to Nyvad criteria, the kappa value ranged from 0.78 to 1.00 (G) and from 0.70 and 0.90 (UG) when compared to the consensus. The kappa values using the cutoff point B ranged from 0.66 to 1.00 (G), 0.76-0.89 (UG) in ICDAS-II and the in Nyvad criteria varied from 0.87 to 1.00 (G) and from 0.65 to 0.88 (UG). Conclusions: Reproducibility values ranged from good to perfect. The reproducibility revealed precise answers in the occlusal caries lesions diagnosis according to the criteria used. The best use of reliability tools for examiner training was important regardless of the examiners being undergraduate or graduate students.

The performance of conventional and fluorescence-based methods for occlusal caries detection: An in vivo study with histologic validation

The authors conducted an in vivo study to determine clinical cutoffs for a laser fluorescence (LF) device, an LF pen and a fluorescence camera (FC), as well as to evaluate the clinical performance of these methods and conventional methods in detecting occlusal caries in permanent teeth by using the histologic gold standard for total validation of the sample.One trained examiner assessed 105 occlusal surfaces by using the LF device, LF pen, FC, International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) criteria and bitewing (BW) radiographic methods. After tooth extraction, the authors assessed the teeth histologically. They determined the optimal clinical cutoffs by means of receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.The specificities and sensitivities for enamel and dentin caries detection versus only dentin caries detection thresholds were 0.60 and 0.93 and 0.77 and 0.52 (ICDAS), 1.00 and 0.29 and 0.97 and 0.44 (BW radiography), 1.00 and 0.85 and 0.77 and 0.81 (LF device), 0.80 and 0.89 and 0.71 and 0.85 (LF pen) and 0.80 and 0.74 and 0.49 and 0.85 (FC), respectively. The accuracy values were higher for ICDAS, the LF device and the LF pen than they were for BW radiography and the FC.The clinical cutoffs for sound teeth, enamel carious lesions and dentin carious lesions were, respectively, 0 through 4, 5 through 27 and 28 through 99 (LF device); 0 through 4, 5 through 32 and 33 through 99 (LF pen); and 0 through 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 through 5.0 (FC). The ICDAS, the LF device and the LF pen demonstrated good performance in helping detect occlusal caries in vivo. The ICDAS did not seem to perform as well at the D(3) threshold (histologic scores 3 and 4) as at the D(1) threshold (histologic scores 1-4). BW radiography and the FC had the lowest performances in helping detect lesions at the D(1) and D(3) thresholds, respectively.Occlusal caries detection should be based primarily on visual inspection. Fluorescence-based methods may be used to provide a second opinion in clinical practice.

Quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) in relation to other technologies and conventional methods for detecting occlusal caries in permanent teeth

Aim: The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the reproducibility and accuracy of quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) in relation to other technologies and conventional methods for detecting occlusal carious lesions. Methods: Ninety-six extracted permanent molar teeth were selected. Three examiners carried out examinations using Visual examination (VI), bitewing radiographs (RX), QLF, electrical conductance measurement (ECM), and DIAGNOdent. Twentyfive percent of the teeth were re-examined for repeatability. Stereomicroscopic examination was used as the gold standard. Results: Intra- and inter-examiner agreement ranged from 0.43 to 0.89. Areas under ROC curves were 0.82, 0.54, 0.84, 0.79 and 0.88, respectively, for VI, RX, QLF, ECM and DIAGNOdent examinations, with RX significantly lower than the other methods. No significant statistical difference was found when comparing the areas under ROC curve of visual inspection and QLF. Conclusions: Although QLF and other technologies for early caries detection may offer some advantages, this study did not find significant improvement in occlusal caries detection when compared to visual examination.

In situ and in vitro comparison of laser fluorescence with visual inspection in detecting occlusal caries lesions

The aim of this study was to compare the in situ and in vitro performances of a laser fluorescence (LF) device (DIAGNOdent 2095) with visual inspection for the detection of occlusal caries in permanent teeth. Sixty-four sites were selected, and visual inspection and LF assessments were carried out, in vitro, three times by two independent examiners, with a 1-week interval between evaluations. Afterwards, the occlusal surfaces were mounted on the palatal portion of removable acrylic orthodontic appliances and placed in six volunteers. Assessments were repeated and validated by histological analysis of the tooth sections under a stereomicroscope. For both examiners, the highest intra-examiner values were observed for the visual inspection when in vitro and in situ evaluations were compared. The inter-examiner reproducibility varied from 0.61 to 0.64, except for the in vitro assessment using LF, which presented a lower value (0.43). The methods showed high specificity at the D(1) threshold (considering enamel and dentin caries as disease). In vitro evaluations showed the highest values of sensitivity for both methods when compared to the in situ evaluations at D(1) and D(2) (considering only dentinal caries as the disease) thresholds. For both methods, the results of sensitivity (at D(1) and D(2)) and accuracy (at D(1)) showed significant differences between in vitro and in situ conditions. However, the sensitivity (at D(1) and D(2)), specificity and accuracy (both at D(1)) of the methods were not significantly different when the same condition was considered. It can be concluded that visual inspection and LF showed better performance in vitro than in situ.

Evaluation of three radiographic methods for detecting occlusal caries lesions

Aim: To compare, in vitro, the performance of three radiographic methods for the detection of occlusal caries in permanent teeth. Methods: A total of 96 extracted molars with no apparent occlusal cavitation were selected, they were photographed and radiographed under standardized conditions using conventional E-plus films and two digital systems, CDR and Sidexis. Two examiners analyzed all films and images, recording the presence and lesion depth. One quarter of the teeth were re-examined for intra- and interexaminer agreements. The teeth were subsequently bisected and examined under a stereomicroscope. The intra and interexaminer agreements and the diagnostic performance (sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and the area under receiver operating characteristic, ROC curve) of each method were evaluated. Results: Out of 96 occlusal surfaces, 41 were sound, 31 had lesions in enamel, and 24 had dentin lesions. Weighted Kappa values for intraexaminer agreement varied widely, depending on both the observer and method. The interexaminer agreement was higher for the digital images than for the conventional films. The area under the ROC curve for enamel and dentin caries (at D1 diagnostic threshold) was 0.55 for films, 0.60 for Schick and 0.54 for Sirona, which were not significantly different from each other. Conclusions: Digital images presented better results of interexaminer agreement; however, no additional effect in the diagnostic performance could be observed in comparison to conventional films.

Use of diagnodent&lt;FONT FACE=Symbol&gt;â &lt;/FONT&gt;for diagnosis of non-cavitated occlusal dentin caries

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a laser fluorescence device for detection of occlusal caries in permanent teeth. One hundred and ninety-nine non-cavitated teeth from 26 patients aged 10 to 13 years were selected. After dental prophylaxis, two previously calibrated dentists examined the teeth. Visual inspection, radiographic examination and laser measurements were performed under standardized conditions. The validation method was cavity preparation with a small cone-shaped diamond bur, when the two examiners agreed about the presence of dentin caries. It was found that the laser detection method produced high values of sensitivity (0.93) and specificity (0.75) and a moderate positive predictive value (0.63). The laser device showed the lowest value of likelihood ratio (3.68). Kappa coefficient showed good repeatability for all methods. Although the laser device had an acceptable performance, this equipment should be used as an adjunct method to visual inspection to avoid false positive results.

Use of laser fluorescence (DIAGNOdentTM) for in vivo diagnosis of occlusal caries: a systematic review

This systematic review was conducted to assess the accuracy of laser fluorescence (DIAGNOdentTM) for diagnosis of occlusal caries in permanent teeth, using any sort of gold standard. The MEDLINE, LILACS, BBO and Cochrane library databases accessed by BIREME were searched for English, Spanish and Portuguese-language papers published between 1982 and 2003. Four works in English were selected. DIAGNOdentTM was found to be an accurate method for diagnosis of occlusal caries, mainly if employed simultaneously with visual inspection.