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The diagnosis of root caries
1Division of Community Dentistry, University of Western Ontario School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, London, Canada.
Journal of Dental Education
|November 9, 2001
Summary
Diagnosing root caries often relies on visual and tactile methods, which can be subjective and detect lesions late. Advanced diagnostic tests, particularly those detecting bacteria, offer improved accuracy for root caries detection.
Area of Science:
- Dentistry
- Oral Health
- Caries Research
Background:
- Root caries diagnosis commonly uses visual and tactile clinical signs.
- Traditional methods may only detect advanced lesions, despite good inter-examiner reliability with caveats.
- Examiner reliability decreases significantly when diagnosing untreated root caries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of diagnostic tests compared to traditional clinical diagnosis for root caries.
- To explore the role of bacterial detection in improving root caries diagnosis.
- To assess the utility of a risk assessment approach in root caries management.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing data on diagnostic tests for root caries.
- Analysis of clinical signs (visual, tactile) and their diagnostic reliability.
- Evaluation of bacterial detection tests (mutans streptococci, Lactobacilli).
Main Results:
- Visual-tactile diagnosis can be reliable but often identifies advanced root caries.
- Reliability decreases for untreated root caries.
- Bacterial detection tests show clinical utility with efficiency scores over 40%.
Conclusions:
- Diagnostic tests, especially those detecting mutans streptococci and Lactobacilli, offer improved clinical helpfulness for root caries.
- A risk assessment approach combining clinical signs and diagnostic tests aids clinical decision-making.
- Further research is needed to fully replace or enhance traditional clinical diagnosis for root caries.