title: Dental radiography: efficacy in the assessment of intraosseous lesions of the face and jaws in asymptomatic patients.
abstract: In this investigation the efficacy of dental radiography for the detection of occult intraosseous lesions of the face and jaws was evaluated. An analysis of 30 million health insurance records indicated that the period prevalence of malignant lesions was less than 5 cases/million/year, and for benign lesions approximately 100 cases/million/year. Data from a controlled observer-performance study showed that radiographic sensitivities ranged between 50% and 80%. The cost per true-positive finding was estimated to be +8.6 million per malignant case and +430,000 per benign case. An assessment of the dosimetric literature indicated that the benefits of radiographic screening as a means for early detection of a malignancy appear to be counterbalanced by the risk of causing a radiation-induced malignancy. Taken together, these data demonstrate that dental radiography is not efficacious for the purpose of detecting occult lesions.
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007573:Jaw Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000209:etiology; D011861:Radiography, Dental / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D012888:Skull Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States