Cone Beam Ct in Occlusal Caries Research

Background: During the past few decades, changes have been observed not only in the prevalence of dental caries, but also in the distribution and pattern of the disease in the population. Most conventional radiographic imaging of teeth underestimates the presence of caries. Cone-beam CT is a new technology which can provide volumetric data of the object, from which cross-sectional images can be obtained for different diagnostic purposes. It is assumed that these features would improve the accuracy in diagnosing dental diseases, including dental caries. Objective: To compare the accuracy of Cone beam CT with intraoral radiographs for detection of occlusal caries. Materials and methods: A set of sixty extracted teeth were mounted on a mandible, surrounded by a plexiglass box. These teeth were imaged using a Sirona Cone beam CT unit and intraoral radiographs (Planmeca). Six observers used both modalities and a 5 point Confidence scale to evaluate presence of occlusal caries in all the sixty surfaces. The actual presence or absence of caries was established with histology. Receiver operating characteristic analysis and weighted kappa statistics were used. Differences in Az values