Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
The
purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the inter- and
intra-examiner reliability of digital bitewing (DBW) radiography and
near-infrared light transillumination (NIRT) for proximal caries
detection and assessment in posterior teeth.
METHODS:
From
a pool of 85 patients, 100 corresponding pairs of DBW and NIRT images
(~1/3 healthy, ~1/3 with enamel caries and ~1/3 with dentin caries) were
chosen. Twelve dentists with different professional statuses and
clinical experience repeated the evaluation in two blinded cycles. Two
experienced dentists provided a reference diagnosis after analysing all
images independently. Statistical analysis included the calculation of
simple (κ) and weighted Kappa (wκ) values as a measure of reliability.
Logistic regression with a backward elimination model was used to
investigate the influence of the diagnostic method, evaluation cycle,
type of tooth, and clinical experience on reliability.
RESULTS:
Altogether,
inter- and intra-examiner reliability exhibited good to excellent κ and
wκ values for DBW radiography (Inter: κ = 0.60/ 0.63; wκ = 0.74/0.76;
Intra: κ = 0.64; wκ = 0.77) and NIRT (Inter: κ = 0.74/0.64; wκ =
0.86/0.82; Intra: κ = 0.68; wκ = 0.84). The backward elimination model
revealed NIRT to be significantly more reliable than DBW radiography.
CONCLUSIONS:
This
study revealed a good to excellent inter-and intra-examiner reliability
for proximal caries detection using DBW and NIRT images. The logistic
regression analysis revealed significantly better reliability for NIRT.
Additionally, the first evaluation cycle was more reliable according to
the reference diagnoses.
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