title: Influence of the ICDAS e-learning program for occlusal caries detection on dental students.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of ICDAS training in a group of dental students for occlusal caries detection in permanent teeth. Premolars and molars (N=104) with occlusal surfaces varying from ICDAS scores 0 to 6 were cleaned, one occlusal site per tooth was selected, and a photograph taken to identify the site. Eight senior dental students examined the teeth twice with a one-week interval between examinations during each of two phases: before and after the ICDAS e-learning program. Teeth were histologically assessed for caries extension. Intraclass correlation coefficients for intra- and interexaminer repeatability were high, both before (0.75 and 0.72, respectively) and after e-learning (0.82 and 0.78, respectively). The ICDAS scores decreased significantly from before to after e-learning (p=0.0001). Correlation between ICDAS scores and histology scores was moderate (0.57 before e-learning and 0.61 after). Although the ROC curve shows an improvement in the use of the ICDAS scoring after e-learning, the difference was not significant (p=0.10). Specificity of the ICDAS scores significantly improved after e-learning (77 percent vs. 36 percent), and sensitivity was reduced slightly after e-learning (87 percent vs. 92 percent). The ICDAS e-learning program improved the performance of the diagnostic skills of the investigated students for the detection of occlusal caries lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Araraquara Dental School, Rua Humaitá, 1680 Centro Araraquara, Sao Paulo 14801-903, Brazil. mibdiniz@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Michele B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Diniz
authors.forename: Luciana Monti
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santos-Pinto
authors.forename: George J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Eckert
authors.forename: Andrea G Ferreira
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Zandoná
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Cássia Loiola Cordeiro
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001641:Bicuspid / Q000473:pathology; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003732:Dental Caries Activity Tests / Q000592:standards*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D020375:Education, Distance; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008963:Molar / Q000473:pathology; D015588:Observer Variation; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity