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Evaluation of occlusal caries detection and assessment by visual inspection, digital bitewing radiography and near-infrared light transillumination

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Abstract

Aim

This study compared the diagnostic outcomes of visual inspection (VI), digital bitewing radiography (BWR), and near-infrared light transillumination (NIR-LT, DIAGNOcam, KaVo, Biberach, Germany) for occlusal caries detection and assessment of posterior teeth.

Participants and methods

This study included 203 patients (mean age 23.0 years). All individuals received a meticulous VI. Additionally, BWR and NIR-LT images were collected. All BWR and NIR-LT images were blindly evaluated for the presence of enamel caries lesions (ECLs) and dentin caries lesions (DCLs). The descriptive statistical analyses included calculation of frequencies, cross tabulations, and pairwise comparisons using Pearson chi-square tests.

Results

The majority of ECLs/DCLs were detected by VI in this low-risk adult population. The additional diagnostic outcomes in terms of ECLs/DCLs amounted to 5.0% (BWR) and 6.8% (NIR-LT). The combined usage of VI/NIR-LT or VI/BWR identified 95.7 and 94.4% of all ECLs/DCLs on occlusal surfaces, respectively.

Conclusion

This comparative diagnostic study showed that VI detected the majority of occlusal caries lesions. Both additional methods showed limited benefits. Due to the valuable features of NIR-LT, i.e., X-ray freeness and clinical practicability, this method might be preferred over X-ray-based methods. Nevertheless, BWRs should be prescribed in clinical situations where insufficient fillings or multiple (deep) caries lesions are diagnosed or where there is a need to assess the caries extension in relation to the pulp.

Clinical relevance

VI has to be understood as caries detection method of choice on occlusal surfaces in low-risk adult population which may help to avoid multiple diagnostic testing, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment.

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Acknowledgements

The study team would like to thank all the participants for their support.

Funding

There was no grant support or funding for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, München, Germany

    Gerrit Schaefer, Vinay Pitchika, Friederike Litzenburger, Reinhard Hickel & Jan Kühnisch

Authors
  1. Gerrit Schaefer
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  2. Vinay Pitchika
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  3. Friederike Litzenburger
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  4. Reinhard Hickel
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  5. Jan Kühnisch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Kühnisch.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The research protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (project number 013-12).

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Schaefer, G., Pitchika, V., Litzenburger, F. et al. Evaluation of occlusal caries detection and assessment by visual inspection, digital bitewing radiography and near-infrared light transillumination. Clin Oral Invest 22, 2431–2438 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-018-2512-0

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