title: Comparison of Proximal Caries Detection in Primary Teeth between Laser Fluorescence and Bitewing Radiography: An in vivo Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Proximal caries detection is of great importance because of the rapid rate of caries progression and the difficulty in determining the absence or presence of a lesion in primary dentition. Although, various methods for caries diagnosis offer good diagnostic performances, they provide varying sensitivities for detecting proximal carious lesions. The objective of this study was to compare, in vivo, the accuracy of DIAGNOdent and bitewing radiography at detecting proximal caries in primary teeth.
  
  
  METHODS
  One Hundred and one primary maxillary and mandibular molars without obvious cavities of children between the age group of 3 and 10 years were included. The teeth were first subjected to DIAGNOdent examination followed by bitewing radiography. The specificity and sensitivity of the systems were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the dentin caries (D3) level, the sensitivity of DIAGNOdent and bitewing radiography was 78.5%; at the enamel caries (D1 and D2) level it was 39.12% and for the sound teeth (D0) it was found to be 76.52%. A strong association was observed between the DIAGNOdent and the bitewing radiograph (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The DIAGNOdent can be used as an alternative diagnostic method in detection of proximal caries in primary teeth. But when seen at the each caries level, the DIAGNOdent is more accurate at the D0 and D3 threshold. How to cite this article: Mepparambath R, Bhat SS, Hegde SK, Anjana G, Sunil M, Mathew S. Comparison of Proximal Caries Detection in Primary Teeth between Laser Fluorescence and Bitewing Radiography: An in vivo Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2014;7(3):163-167.
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Royal Dental College, Palakkad, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Ratheesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mepparambath
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Sham
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: S Bhat
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Sundeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: K Hegde
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Royal Dental College, Palakkad, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anjana
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Royal Dental College, Palakkad, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sunil
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Royal Dental College, Palakkad, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Sherryl
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathew
keywords: Bitewing radiograph; DIAGNOdent; Dentin caries; Enamel caries.; Primary teeth; Proximal caries detection