Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology INFLUENCE OF THE MEDICAL AND DENTAL HISTORY ON THE RADIOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION
Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology
Volume 128, Issue 4, October 2019, Pages e165-e166
Background
Medical
history can have a positive influence on a radiologists’
interpretations, leading to a more useful report for the clinician.
However, the medical history should not dictate the radiologic
interpretation. We conducted a pilot study among the dentists practicing
at the University of Florida to observe the influence of the patients’
medical and dental histories on the differential radiologic interpretation.
Objective(s)
The
aim of this study was to observe the influence of the medical and
dental histories on radiologic interpretation, and the variation
depending on the dental specialty and the dentist's years of experience;
and to encourage the dental practitioner to follow a systematic
diagnostic strategy to avoid bias caused by the patient's medical and
dental histories during radiologic interpretation.
Study Design
Dentists
practicing at the University of Florida College of Dentistry were
randomly divided into 4 equal groups of equal number. A survey email was
sent to these groups, containing a case presentation with a
pantomograph, intraoral photographs, and a medical history. The medical
history was intentionally changed in each group to observe if this
influenced the answers chosen by the dentists.
Results
A percentile-based descriptive analysis and a χ2
analysis demonstrated that the majority of the participating dentists
were biased by the medical and dental histories provided. A correlation analysis
revealed a weak relationship between the answers chosen by the
participating dentists and their dental specialty and years of
experience.
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