title: Using computers to diagnose and plan treatment of approximal caries. Detected in radiographs.
abstract: Two of the authors developed a computer-based software system that is capable of diagnosing approximal caries and making decisions about restorative care. The system was compared with decisions made by a group of experienced clinicians. The results indicate that the clinician viewers overall correctly identified a similar number of surfaces as the software, but from viewer to viewer, there was more variability in the number of surfaces identified correctly than in those identified correctly by the software users. Software packages such as this have the potential to raise overall accuracy by increasing the consistency of treatment decisions over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, College of Dental Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heaven
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Weems
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Firestone
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Greer
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Patel
mesh_terms: D001641:Bicuspid; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D011861:Radiography, Dental / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted