The impact of magnification on occlusal caries diagnosis with implementation of the ICDAS II criteria.
OBJECTIVE
This study compared the impact of low-powered magnification on the detection of occlusal caries.


METHODS
The occlusal surfaces of 38 extracted teeth received caries ICDAS classification with and without magnification by two examiners. Histology was used as the gold standard.


RESULTS
No significant differences existed in terms of sensitivity, specificity, LR+, LR- and Az values for the two examiners and modalities. Interexaminer agreement was almost perfect for grades 0, 2, 3 irrespective of magnification. For grade 1, magnification resulted in lower agreement than unaided vision.


CONCLUSIONS
Magnification does not improve the detective performance of visual examination.
Department of Operative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. pgmitrop @ dent.uoa.gr
P
P
Mitropoulos
C
C
Rahiotis
A
A
Kakaboura
G
G
Vougiouklakis
D003731:Dental Caries / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007909:Lenses; D015588:Observer Variation; D010808:Physical Examination; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014785:Vision, Ocular