Approximal caries diagnosis after data import from different digital radiography systems: interobserver agreement and comparison to histological hard-tissue sections.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the agreement of approximal caries diagnosis obtained with different types of digital radiography systems after image import into a reference system.


METHODS
Digital radiographs were taken from 30 extracted human premolars with 60 diagnostic surfaces using a reference and two test systems from which images were imported as TIFF files. Four observers evaluated the radiographs using the reference software. Teeth were sectioned for histology. Agreement between histology and each technique was calculated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) statistics.


RESULTS
The areas under the ROC curves were not significantly different between reference and test systems.


CONCLUSIONS
Importing files from different programs did not affect diagnostic accuracy.
Schulte
A G
AG
Department of Conservative Dentistry, Rupprechts-Karls Universitat, Heidelberg, Germany.
Wittchen
A
A
Stachniss
V
V
Jacquet
W
W
Bottenberg
P
P
D001641:Bicuspid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D044962:Data Compression; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D012372:ROC Curve; D011858:Radiographic Magnification; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital / Q000592:standards*; D011873:Radiology Information Systems; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012984:Software