Student Versus Faculty Performance Using a New Visual Criteria for the Detection of Caries on Occlusal Surfaces: An In Vitro Examination with Histological Validation

Abstract

The current study compared three groups of participants with different levels of clinical experience in using the International Caries and Detection System (ICDAS) on occlusal surfaces. Thirty participants (faculty, graduate and undergraduate students), after a lecture and hands-on training session on two occasions, examined 60 occlusal surfaces previously examined by two criteria expert examiners. There were no significant differences between the groups for intra- and inter-examiner agreement for ICDAS severity or activity on occlusal surfaces as measured by kappa. Previous clinical dental experience does not seem to play a significant role in learning ICDAS.

Influence of Examiner Experience on Clinical Performance of Visual Inspection in Detecting and Assessing the Activity Status of Caries Lesions

“…Another study using ICDAS corroborated our findings. 17 Similar results were obtained when the examiners used objective methods, such as the laser fluorescence method. 15 In fact, one goal of using visual scoring systems is the minimization of the inherent subjectivity of clinical examinations.…”

Factors Affecting the Detection and Treatment of Occlusal Caries Using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System

“…7,8 Studies that have been previously conducted to assess the reproducibility and accuracy of this system relied on examiners who were trained using the ICDAS-II criteria. 10,16,17 In our study, the participants did not have any previous training on the system prior to their participation in the study. The criteria were presented to them without any further detail or any additive verbal explanation.…”

“…16 Therefore, the variability in diagnosis of occlusal caries is mostly seen in teeth that have no obvious cavitation. Training of dentists on accurately scoring these lesions is important, especially when it comes to patient education and monitoring of oral health status.…”

E-learning Activities to Complement Education in Cariology for Undergraduate Students

“…The use of an e-learning approach could complement the conventional teaching process enhancing knowledge, efficiency and effectiveness of the educational interventions in the actual pedagogical challenges [15]. However, evidence in the field of cariology and e-learning education is weak and only few studies assess this kind of approach in dental students [16,17]. E-learning activities related to cariology have been performed with undergraduate students since 2009 at the Discipline of Pediatric Dentistry -Dental School, University of São Paulo to complement theoretical lectures.…”