THE USE OF A COMPUTER-BASED IMAGE-ANALYSIS PROGRAM FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF APPROXIMAL CARIES FROM BITEWING RADIOGRAPHS

Approximal surfaces of 13 extracted molar and premolar teeth were classified directly and radiographically as sound or decayed. Eleven faculty dentists examined bitewing radiographs of the teeth and responded on a 5-point certainty scale, whether caries was present. Ten other faculty dentists used a computer-based program to examine the radiographs. For sensitivity, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and interexaminer agreement (Kappa), the computer-assisted faculty was significantly (p < 0.05) superior or equal to the unassisted faculty group.