Detection of occlusal caries with visual examination using ICDAS correlates strongly with histology under stereomicroscopy (SM), but dentin aspects under SM are ambiguous regarding mineral content. Thus, our aim was to test two null hypotheses: SM and microradiography result in similar correlations between ICDAS and histology; SM and microradiography result in similar positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of ICDAS cut-off 1–2 (scores 0–2 as sound) with histological threshold D3 (demineralization in the inner third of dentin). Occlusal surfaces of extracted permanent teeth (n = 115) were scored using ICDAS. Undemineralized ground sections were histologically scored using both SM without contrast solution and microradiography after immersion in Thoulet’s solution 1.47 for 24 h (MRC). Correlation between ICDAS and histology differed from SM (0.782) to MRC (0.511) (p = 0.0002), with a large effect size “q” of 0.49 (95% CI: 0.638/0.338). For ICDAS cut-off 1–2 and D3, PPV from MRC (0.56) was higher than that from SM (0.28) (p< 0.00001; effect size h = 0.81), and NPV from MRC (0.72) was lower than that from SM (1,00) (p < 0.00001; effect size h = 1.58). In conclusion, SM overestimated the correlation between ICDAS and lesion depth, and underestimated the number of occlusal surfaces with ICDAS cut-off 1–2 and deep dentin demineralization.

There is an error in the second sentence of the Abstract. The correct sentence is: Thus, our aim was to test two null hypotheses: SM and microradiography result in similar correlations between ICDAS and histology; SM and microradiography result in similar positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of ICDAS cut-off 1-2 (scores 0-2 as sound) with histological threshold D4 (demineralization in the inner third of dentin).There are errors in the penultimate sentence of the Abstract. The correct sentence is: For ICDAS cut-off 1-2 and D4, PPV from MRC (0.373) was higher than that from SM (0.196) (p< 0.0002; effect size h = 0.56), and NPV from MRC (0.73) was lower than that from SM (1,00) (p < 0.00001; effect size h = 1.55).There are errors in the last sentence of the Introduction. The correct sentence is: The aim of this study was to test two null hypotheses: (i) the correlation between the visual aspect of occlusal caries in permanent teeth detected using ICDAS and lesion depth determined with SM. is similar to the same correlation when lesion depth is determined using microradiography with contrast (MRC); and (ii) the number of both sound and caries occlusal surfaces diagnosed with ICDAS cut-off 1-2 (0-2 as sound) presenting deep dentin demineralization (histological threshold D4: demineralization in the inner third of dentin) is similar when lesion depth is measured by both SM and MRC.The first sentence of the third paragraph beneath the "Data analysis" heading of the Materials and Methods section is incorrect. The correct sentence is: We also tested the null hypothesis that the positive predictive value (PPV = true carious cases with histological score D4 divided by the total number of carious cases with ICDAS scores 3-6) and the negative predictive value (NPV = true sound cases with histological scores 0-3 divided by the total of sound cases with ICDAS scores 0-2) using ICDAS cut-off 1-2 (scores 0,1, and 2 considered as sound; and scores 3, 4, 5 and 6 considered as carious) with histological threshold D4 from both SM and MRC are similar.The final and penultimate sentences of the Results section are incorrect. The correct sentences are: The PPVs for sound occlusal surfaces (ICDAS scores 0, 1, and 2) and histological threshold D4 (demineralization at the inner third of dentin) were the following: 0.196 using SM, and 0.373 using MRC. The corresponding NPVs were: 1.00 for SM and 0.73 for MRC. Both PPV and NPV differed statistically (p < 0.0002), with an effect size h of 0.56 for PPV and 1.55 for NPV, both with statistical power > 96.0%.The final sentence of the second paragraph of the Discussion section contains a typographical error. The correct sentence is: This is the rational of the use of MRC for measuring lesion depth as described here.