title: Preliminary investigation into the validity of dentists' decisions to restore occlusal surfaces of permanent teeth.
abstract: This study investigates the validity of the treatment decisions made by 10 hospital dentists, who examined the fissures of extracted teeth using a visual-only technique. The study shows that 8 of the 10 dentists were more likely to leave carious teeth unrestored than unnecessarily treat sound teeth. The authors suggest that this system of diagnosing occlusal caries is a satisfactory one in terms of its sensitivity and specificity.
authors.affiliation: University of Glasgow, Department of Community Medicine, Scotland.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kay
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watts
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Paterson
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Blinkhorn
mesh_terms: D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D003815:Dentists; D006801:Humans; D008963:Molar; D010865:Pilot Projects