Radiographic diagnosis of incipient proximal caries: an ex-vivo study.
The aim of this ex vivo study was to compare visual clinical and radiographic examinations to the histological analysis for proximal caries diagnosis in extracted permanent molars and premolars. The relationship between clinical aspects and carious lesions was also evaluated. Eighty-eight proximal surfaces (44 freshly extracted teeth) were longitudinally sectioned with a 370-microm diamond disk, thinned with wet silicon carbide paper and observed with a stereomicroscope at x40 magnification. Sensitivity and specificity were 65.6% and 83.3% for clinical examination and 29.7% and 95.8% for radiographic examination, respectively. Kappa values ranged from 0.64 to 0.91. The white spots corresponded to lesions restricted to enamel, while the dark spots corresponded to lesions that reached the dentinoenamel junction. In most cases, cavitation corresponded to dentin lesions. It may be concluded that interproximal radiographic examination is not a reliable method for detection of incipient proximal carious lesions.
da Silva Neto
José Moreira
JM
Technical School of Health, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil. neto0000@hotmail.com
dos Santos
Rosenês Lima
RL
Sampaio
Maria Carmeli Correia
MC
Sampaio
Fábio Correia
FC
Passos
Isabela Albuquerque
IA
D001641:Bicuspid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003804:Dentin / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008963:Molar / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D015588:Observer Variation; D011859:Radiography; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014075:Tooth Discoloration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014962:X-Ray Film