Interexaminer agreement in caries radiographic diagnosis by conventional and digital radiographs

The purpose of this research was to compare two digital storage phosphor systems and conventional film, as well as verify the interexaminer agreement in radiographic diagnosis on occlusal and proximal cavities. Two digital systems and conventional radiographic film were used to evaluate 144 tooth surfaces with and without cavities; the radiographs were analyzed and scored in a scale of 4 points. Thirteen undergraduates and an oral radiologist participated as examiners. A light microscopy analysis was accomplished in order to validate the research. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the radiographic systems, however all of them had significant differences when compared to light microscopy, except for the Digora system on the proximal surface when the radiologist was the examiner. In the interexaminer evaluation, a moderate agreement level was obtained, and a fair to moderate level was obtained between the students and the oral radiologist. Regarding the validation (sensitivity, specificity, positive predict and negative predict) the values were similar between students and the oral radiologist, except for the sensitivity value on the occlusal surface. The students had the highest number of false-positive results and the oral radiologist the highest number of false-negative results.