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In vitro performance of different methods in detecting occlusal caries lesions.
1The University of Manchester, School of Dentistry, Colgate-Palmolive Dental Health Unit, Williams House, Manchester Science Park, Lloyd Street North, Manchester M15 6SE, United Kingdom. juliana.gomez@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Journal of Dentistry
|November 14, 2012
Summary
Visual inspection methods like ICDAS are effective for detecting early occlusal caries. While advanced technologies show promise, traditional visual assessment remains sufficient for clinical practice.
Area of Science:
- Dentistry
- Dental Diagnostics
Background:
- Early detection of dental caries is crucial for effective treatment strategies in general dental practice.
- Accurate assessment of early and intermediate occlusal lesions is essential for timely intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the in vitro diagnostic performance of various methods for detecting early and intermediate occlusal caries.
- Evaluate the efficacy of the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS), digital photography, fibre-optic transillumination (FOTI), optical coherence tomography (OCT), SoproLife camera, and quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) systems.
Main Methods:
- One hundred and twelve extracted permanent teeth were assessed using ICDAS, ICDAS photographs, FOTI, OCT, SoproLife, QLF-Inspektor, and QLF-Custom.
- Histology served as the gold standard for validation.
- Performance was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.
Main Results:
- AUROC curves for enamel and dentine caries detection ranged from 0.86 to 0.98, with ICDAS, ICDAS photographs, and SoproLife showing the highest values (0.98).
- Correlations with histology ranged from 0.65 (OCT) to 0.88 (ICDAS and FOTI).
- All methods demonstrated excellent intra-examiner reproducibility and strong correlation with histology (p<0.01), except OCT.
Conclusions:
- All evaluated methods demonstrated comparable performance in detecting occlusal caries lesions in vitro.
- Visual inspection methods, such as ICDAS, appear sufficient for clinical detection and assessment of occlusal caries lesion depth.
- Advanced diagnostic tools may offer benefits for monitoring caries lesion progression over time.
