NIRI has high sensitivity in detecting proximal caries in primary molars, finds study

The aim of this study was to validate the near-infrared imaging (NIRI) in comparison with visual inspection (VI) for early detection of proximal caries in primary molars.

VI and intraoral scans were performed on 126 patients aged 3–12 years with at least one non-cavitied and non-restored proximal tooth surface, who were scheduled for bite wing radiography (BWR) as part of their standard care. Teeth with signs of proximal cavities, restorations or residual caries were excluded in this study. BWR, a gold standard to diagnose proximal caries in primary molars, was used to validate the findings of NIRI and VI. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and the area under the curve (AUC) of NIRI and VI were calculated.

Results

The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of NIRI were 82.89%, 74.10% and 90.97%, while those of VI were 71.64%, 43.88% and 97.14%, respectively. NIRI showed higher accuracy and sensitivity, and lower specificity (P<0.001). The AUC of NIRI was higher than that of VI (0.826 vs 0.706; P<0.05).

NIRI showed higher sensitivity and lower specificity compared with VI when detecting proximal caries in primary molars. Therefore, it is recommended to use NIRI in combination with BWR to improve the detection rate of proximal caries in primary molars.

In children, there is a high incidence of proximal caries in primary molars, which require high technical sensitivity for detection. NIRI shows high sensitivity in detecting proximal caries, which may improve their detection rate in primary molars.

Reference:

Jingwei Cao, Yuwen Fang, Yue Liao, Yan Wang, Ran Yang, Yang Zhang, Qiong Zhang, Jing Zou,Clinical Validation of Near-infrared Imaging for Early Detection of Proximal Caries in Primary Molars,Journal of Dentistry,2023,104658,ISSN 0300-5712,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2023.104658. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300571223002440)

Keywords:

NIRI, high, sensitivity, detecting, proximal, caries, primary, molars, Journal of Dentistry, Near-infrared; proximal caries; early diagnosis; pediatric dentistry; bitewing radiography, Jingwei Cao, Yuwen Fang, Yue Liao, Yan Wang, Ran Yang, Yang Zhang, Qiong Zhang, Jing Zou