A COMPARISON OF PERIAPICAL RADIOGRAPHS AND THEIR DIGITAL IMAGES FOR THE DETECTION OF SIMULATED INTERPROXIMAL CARIOUS LESIONS

모의 인접면 치아우식병소의 진단을 위한 구내 표준방사선사진과 그 디지털 영상의 비교

The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of periapical radiographs and their digitized images for the detection of simulated interproximal carious lesions. A total of 240 interproximal surfaces was used in this study. The case sample was composed of 80 anterior teeth, 80 bicuspids and 80 molars which were prepared in order to distribute the surfaces from carious free to those containing simulated carious lesions of varying depths (0.5㎜, 0.8㎜, and 1.2㎜). The periapical radiographs were taken by paralleling technique and film used was Kodak Ektaspeed(E group). All radiographs were evaluated by five dentist to recognize the true status of simulated carious lesion. They were asked to give a score of 0, 1, 2, or 3. Digitized images were obtained using a commercial video processor(FOTOVIX Ⅱ- XS). And the computer system was 486 DX PC with PC Vision and frame grabber. The 17' display monitor had a resolution of 1280×1024 pixels(0.26㎜ dot pitch). But the one frame of the intraoral radiograph has a resolution of 700×480 pixels and each pixel has a grey level value of 256. All the radiographs and digital images were viewed under uniform subdued lighting in the same reading room. After a week the second interpretation was performed in the same condition. The detection of lesions on the monitor was compared with the finding of simulated interproximal carious lesions on the film images. The results were as follows: 1. When the scoring criteria was dichotomous ; lesion present and not present 1) The overall sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of periapical radiographs and their digital images showed no statistically significant difference. 2) The sensitivity and specificity according to the region of teeth and the grade of lesions showed no statistically significant difference between periapical radiographs and their digital images. 2. When estimate the grade of lesions ; score 0, 1, 2, 3 1) The overall diagnostic accuracy was 53.3% on the intraoral films and 52.9% on digital images. There was no significant difference. 2) The diagnostic accuracy according to the region of teeth showed no statistically significant difference between periapical radiographs and their digital images. 3. The degree of agreement and reliability 1) Using gamma value to show the degree of agreement, there was similarity between periapical films and digital images. 2) The reliability of each twice interpretation of periapical films and digital images showed no statistically significant difference. In all cases P value was greater than 0.05, showing that both techniques can be used to detect the incipient and moderate interproximal carious lesions with similar accuracy.