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A comparative study of high-resolution cone beam computed tomography and charge-coupled device sensors for detecting caries

¹UCLA School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, CA, USA; ²Advanced Prosthodontics, UCLA School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, CA, USA; ³Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA; ⁴Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, UCLA School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, CA, USA

*Correspondence to: Stuart C White, UCLA School of Dentistry, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1668, USA; E-mail: swhite{at}ucla.edu

Received 15 July 2008; revised 27 August 2008; accepted 27 August 2008

Objectives: Conventional radiographic imaging of teeth underestimates the presence of caries. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of high-resolution cone beam CT (CBCT) images and conventional charge-coupled device (CCD) images for detecting proximal and occlusal caries.

Methods: Non-restored, extracted human permanent premolar and molar teeth were mounted and then imaged with a 3DX Accuitomo^® and a CCD. We selected 92 occlusal and 100 proximal surfaces for raters to score. Of these, 36 and 25, respectively, had lesions extending into dentin. Using a five-step confidence scale, eight practising dentists evaluated the images for the presence of caries in dentin using both modalities. Actual presence and extent of caries was established with microCT imaging.

Results: For proximal surface lesions extending into dentin, the average sensitivity score using 3DX images (0.61) was almost twice that of CCD images (0.33) and the difference was significant. The specificity values for both systems were high and not significantly different from each other. For occlusal surfaces, raters detected significantly more lesions in the enamel or dentin when using the 3DX images than when using CCD images. However, the raters also had significantly lower average specificity scores for the 3DX images compared with the CCD images for lesions at both depths.

Conclusions: Practising dentists were able to improve their detection of proximal-surface caries extending into the dentin, but not occlusal caries, using 3DX high-resolution cone beam CT images compared with CCD images.

Keywords: radiography, dental; dental caries; radiography, dental, digital; cone beam computed tomography