The Diagnodent can be used to detect carious lesions under composite resin restorations, according to a study in Clinical Oral Investigations (December 16, 2012).
In the study, which compared the Diagnodent with digital radiography, researchers from Khon Kaen University in Thailand selected 100 extracted third molars, 50 with and 50 without carious lesions, and prepared any class I occlusal cavities. In the carious group, caries were left on the floor of cavities before composite resin restorations were placed.
The occlusal surface relevant to the caries position in the carious group and a counterfeit point in the noncarious group were marked and read with the Diagnodent. Digital radiographs were then taken and examined by four observers.
The sensitivity (95% confidence interval [CI]) and specificity (95% CI) of the Diagnodent were 0.74 and 0.84, respectively, the researchers reported. The average diagnostic performance values for the digital radiographs were 0.54 and 0.77, respectively.
There were no statistically significant differences between Diagnodent and digital radiographs for detecting dental caries under composite restoration (p > 0.05), demonstrating the effectiveness of the Diagnodent for this application, the researchers concluded.
