The Dentist’s Ability to Detect Different Restorative Procedures on Periapical Radiographs—Results from a Reliability Study

Abstract

(1) Background: This in vitro reliability study aimed to determine the inter- and intra-examiner reliability for the detection of direct fillings, indirect crown restorations, root canal fillings and implants on periapical radiographs. (2) Methods: Fourteen dentists (<2 years of clinical experience = 11; >2 years of clinical experience = 3) participated in this diagnostic reliability study in which included a theoretical and practical educational training prior to data collection. The image set of periapical radiographs (N = 150) was examined in two evaluation rounds by all the dentists. Cohen’s Kappa (CK) and a binary logistic regression model were computed. (3) Results: The inter- and intra-examiner reliability were found to be in almost perfect agreement: direct fillings (1st round 0.859/2nd round 0.844/intra 0.910), indirect crown restorations (0.932/0.926/0.955), root canal fillings (0.920/0.886/0.941) and dental implants (0.994/0.988/0.987). The binary logistic regression model revealed that the “evaluation round” and “dentist’s clinical experience” had no significant influence, but for the “diagnostic category”; small, but statistically significant differences were documented. (4) Conclusions: The reliability for detecting direct and indirect restorations, root canal fillings or implants on periapical radiographs was found to be high in the present reliability study on periapical radiographs.

The Detection of Dental Pathologies on Periapical Radiographs—Results from a Reliability Study

“…Such pathologies were not considered in the present study project. A similar report was published recently that analysed dentists’ reliability in identifying restorations on periapical radiographs [ 32 ] and, interestingly, the CK values for detecting different restorative procedures were found to be better. This finding indicates that different radiographic findings are linked to varying reliability data.…”

“…After the workshop, the set of periapical radiographs was evaluated twice by all participants. There had to be at least four weeks in between the two assessments to reduce memory bias as best as possible [ 32 ]. All dentists were urged to complete the evaluation without assistance and independently.…”