The sensitivity, specificity, and reliability of radiographic periapical diagnosis of posterior teeth.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to define the percent accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and reliability of periapical radiographic diagnosis of periapical inflammatory disease.


METHODS
A total of 140 cases were reviewed under ideal viewing conditions by 6 observers. For each case, observers determined whether periapical disease was evident and rated the confidence of their interpretation.


RESULTS
The mean percent accuracy was 70.2%. The mean sensitivity and specificity were 0.65 and 0.78, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficients for intraobserver and interobserver reliability were 0.66 and 0.54, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Specificity of periapical radiographic diagnosis is higher than sensitivity. These results support the current guideline for selective use of periapical views based on patient symptoms and clinical signs. Finally, dentists have a good degree of reliability on repeated evaluations, but only fair agreement when compared with other dentists reading the same radiograph.
Bohay
R N
RN
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Dentistry and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Western Ontario London, Ontario.
D000328:Adult; D001641:Bicuspid; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008963:Molar; D015588:Observer Variation; D010485:Periapical Periodontitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity