Reliability of impedance spectroscopy versus digital radiograph and ICDAS-II in occlusal caries detection: a prospective clinical trial

Abstract

The traditional methods in early caries detection had many limitations. So, this study aimed to evaluate the clinical performance of alternating current impedance spectroscopy ACIST in comparison with digital radiograph and ICDAS-II in detection of occlusal carious lesions. Occlusal surfaces of molar and premolar teeth from 40 adult participants were examined by two observers using three diagnostic methods: (1) international caries detection and assessment system (ICDAS-II) (2) digital radiograph (DR) and (3) Cariescan Pro device (ACIST). Agreement analysis and the difference in sensitivities and specificities were evaluated. The results showed an excellent agreement in the different groups. The difference from the visual tactile against ACIST scoring for enamel caries detection, was statistically significant (p = 0.012) and the agreement was moderate (k = 0.509). For dentinal caries the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05) and the agreement was similarly moderate (k < 0.6). The difference from the digital radiograph against ACIST scoring, for enamel caries, digital radiography had significantly higher sensitivity and specificity than ACIST (p < 0.001) while for dentinal caries detection and overall, ACIST had higher sensitivity and digital radiography had higher specificity and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Visual-tactile examination is a considered as feasible and valid technique for occlusal caries detection, digital radiography is superior to ACIST in diagnosing enamel caries, but it could underestimate the caries depth, ACIST is a reliable tool for detecting occlusal caries in dentin.