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

Meusbuerger, Theresa; Wülk, Annika; Kühnisch, Jan ; Kessler, Andreas; Hickel, Reinhard; Dujic, Helena; Heck, Katrin (2023): The Detection of Dental Pathologies on Periapical Radiographs—Results from a Reliability Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12: 2224. ISSN 2077-0383

Abstract

(1) Background: Caries, periapical lesions, periodontal bone loss (PBL), and endo-perio
lesions are common dental findings that require an accurate diagnostic assessment to allow appropriate
disease management. The purpose of this reliability study was to compare the inter- and
intra-rater reliability for the detection of the above-mentioned pathologies on periapical radiographs.
(2) Methods: Fourteen dentists (three with more than two years and eleven with less than two
years of work experience) participated in a training workshop prior to data acquisition. A total of
150 radiographs were assessed by all raters in two rounds. Cohen’s Kappa (CK) values and a binary
logistic regression were calculated. (3) Results: The reliability was found in a moderate and substantial
range of agreement: caries (mean inter-rater CK value/first round 0.704/mean inter-rater CK
value/second round 0.659/mean intra-rater CK value 0.778), periapical lesions (0.643/0.611/0.768),
PBL (0.454/0.482/0.739) and endo-perio lesion (0.702/0.689/0.840). The regression model revealed a
significant influence of the clinical experience, and furthermore, periapical pathologies and PBL were
identified less reliably in comparison to caries and endo-perio lesions. (4) Conclusions: The dentist’s
ability to detect the chosen pathologies was linked with significant differences. Periapical lesions and
PBL were identified less reliably than caries and endo-perio lesions.

• Dokumententyp: Artikel (Klinikum der LMU)
• Organisationseinheit (Fakultäten): 07 Medizin > Klinikum der LMU München > Poliklinik für Zahnerhaltung und Parodontologie
• DFG-Fachsystematik der Wissenschaftsbereiche: Lebenswissenschaften
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 491502892