CP-OCT helps detect non-cavitated approximal caries, Study says

The authors selected a total of thirty human extracted premolars based on micro-computed tomography [μ-CT: μ- CT = 0: sound (n = 12), μ-CT = 1/2: caries into outer-/inner-half of enamel (n = 6 each), μ-CT = 3: caries into outer one-third of dentine (n = 6)].

All the teeth were mounted in a custom- made device to simulate approximal contact, and scanned from the marginal ridge above the contact area. CP-OCT images were analyzed by deepest caries extension from horizontal and coronal planes and repeated 48-hrs later. Sensitivity, specificity, percent correct, area under the ROC curve (Az), intra-examiner repeatability and correlation with μ-CT were determined.

The following interesting results were drafted-

1. Sensitivity/specificity/Az for Horizontalplane, Coronal-plane, and Deepest from both planes were 94percent/58percent/0.76,81percent/100percent/0.90, and 94 %/58 %/0.82.
2. Coronal-plane had significantly higher specificity than Horizontal-plane and Deepest (p = 0.004) but Horizontal-plane and Deepest were not different (p = 1.00).
3. Horizontal-plane had significantly lower Az than Deepest (p = 0.048), but Coronal-plane was not different than Horizontal-plane (p = 0.07) or Deepest (p = 0.20).
4. Correlation coefficients were Horizontal-plane (0.53, p < 0.001), Coronal-plane (0.84, p < 0.001), and Deepest (0.66, p < 0.001).

Therefore, the authors concluded that "within the limitations of this study, CP-OCT could be used to detect non-cavitated approximal caries. Analysis using the Coronal-plane is superior to the Horizontal-plane."