[Reproducibility of the laser fluorescence method for the diagnosis of occlusal caries. Clinical study]

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the reproducibility of recently developed laser fluorescence method for occlusal caries detection in vivo. 71 non-cavitated premolar and molar teeth were examined repeatedly by three dentists using DIAGNOdent (KaVo) instrument. The presence of caries has been established on the classification of Lussi, created on the basis of "in vitro" investigations. The reproducibility of the measurements were expressed in rank correlation of Spearman. The intra- and interexaminer reliability was also determined by Kappa statistics. The Spearman correlation coefficiencies were fairly high (0.738-0.949) The intraobserver and interobserver coincidencies reflected by Kappa values (0.60-0.88 and 0.44-0.77, respectively) were also convincing.