title: Diagnostic quality and observer variation in radiographic diagnoses of approximal caries.
abstract: The aim of the study was to compare observer variations, observer strategy, and diagnostic quality with regard to radiographic caries diagnoses made at different depth levels. Qualitative assessment of approximal carious lesions on the basis of radiographs were made for sound (n = 28) and carious (n = 123) lesions by seven dentists. The inter- and intra-observer variations were lowest when lesions were diagnosed as being in the outermost parts of the teeth. The frequency of false positive scores was lower when dentin was examined as compared with enamel. The quality of radiographic diagnoses showed small variations (p greater than 0.05) when different levels of pulpal depths were interpreted.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Espelid
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Tveit
mesh_terms: D001641:Bicuspid; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003804:Dentin / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D008963:Molar; D011859:Radiography; D013223:Statistics as Topic